UR Security sent out its first Security Notice through a new e-mail system on April 9. The list will send timely notices to students about serious incidents affecting members of the UR community.
“Several of us knew of various approaches on our campus and on other campuses for posting notices on Web sites or transmitting messages to students,” Director of UR Security Walter Mauldin said. “What emerged were a couple of approaches – a Web site posting and a direct e-mail notice system as a complement to the printed Safety Bulletin and Community Update method.”
Events included on the Security Bulletins are ones that are “recent or pose current risks to the personal safety of campus community members,” according to Mauldin. Community Bulletins are used to in order to inform the UR community about a need for increased alertness to suspicious behavior or a reduction in personal safety risks.
All undergraduates have been included on the security notice e-mail list, but others can subscribe at http://www.security.rochester.edu/notify/. In addition, security will place notices on its Web site at http://www.security.rochester.edu/.
“In the larger context of the university’s various Emergency Preparedness Plans, this network is one option for possible use in communicating information or instructions in the event a major incident occurs somewhere that requires actions by university divisions to respond to or prepare to support those persons or activities affected,” Mauldin said. “That decision would be part of the communications plan worked out by senior staff involved in overseeing the many response efforts.
“We anticipate that this initiative will continue to evolve as we gain experiences from its use, in response to recommendations by recipients, and as we learn of similar efforts by other institutions,” Mauldin said. “The outcome will remain focused on initiatives that promote the prompt and effective communication of information serves to protect the campus community through an increased awareness of the facts as they become known.”
Undergraduate to start UR Poker Club
Students interested in poker will soon be able to join an organized group where they can improve their skills and play in regular competitions. The new group, called the UR Poker Club, is currently in the early stages of being formed to give students an opportunity to play regularly.
“I know there are a lot of people out there who like to play poker,” senior and club founder Esteban Hopenhayn said. “I’m trying to get a network of people to play.”
According to Hopenhayn poker is different from other games where you just play against the odds. “Poker is a game that there is actually thinking involved in,” he said. “It is very complicated and very mathematical. That’s the side I like.”
Hopenhayn hopes to bring together a group of people that would have frequent games at a regular time. The level of playing would vary depending on skill of each player. “There will be room for people who just want to learn to play,” Hopenhayn said.
There will be regular games, but also tournaments, with the possibility of prizes for the top winners, he said.
Players will also have the opportunity to improve their skills by learning from other members of the group. “It’s about playing against worthy adversaries,” Hopenhayn said. “For that you have to educate people.”
Although it is late in the school year, Hopenhayn does hope to have an interest meeting before the end of the semester, and possibly contact interested students who are staying in Rochester for the summer to organize some games.
Reporting by Chadwick Schnee and Catherine Egan.
