MSU launched a Web site to help people prepare for terrorism, natural disasters or other emergencies Wednesday.
"With the general increasing concern of terrorism post 9-11, we started looking at ways we could consolidate safety information in one Web site," MSU police Chief Jim Dunlap said.
The site, http://beprepared.msu.edu, shows the current national terror threat level, as decided by the Homeland Security Advisory System and explains what each degree of threat means.
As of Wednesday, the nation is at level yellow - which means a significant risk of terrorist attacks.
Dunlap said the site, which is run by University Relations, is an effort to consolidate safety information from different organizations on and off campus into one comprehensive resource.
"It really was an effort to try to bring in all the places at the university that had a different piece of the puzzle," he said. "People could go directly to the Web site and find exactly what they wanted."
Some safety tips include storing emergency supplies such as first aid kits and nonperishable food and water, preparing for evacuations and keeping smoke detectors in good working condition.
The site also shows who the emergency team coordinator is for each building on campus and generic building emergency plans.
Emergency team coordinators are employees in each building who are trained to help evacuate the building and handle emergency situations.
Concerned students, parents, staff and faculty members can see what kind of measures MSU will take in an emergency situation, MSU police Inspector Bill Wardwell said.
"They want to know that MSU has done something to make this a safer place for everybody," he said. "There's a lot of information there that if individuals would follow would make people a lot safer."
But the fact the safety tips are out there doesn't mean people will read them, psychology Professor Gary Stollak said.
"There's nothing wrong with the Web site. (MSU) has created no end of sites to help students, created pamphlets," he said. "Has anybody ever read any of that?"
Stollak said people don't always wear seat belts, despite reading in countless newspapers and magazines about car accidents.
Whether people actually visit the site or not, Matt Weingarden, chairperson of ASMSU's Student Assembly, said it perpetuates fear of terrorism. ASMSU is MSU's undergraduate student government.
"I'm a little bit alarmed that MSU is almost playing into this terrorist hysteria," he said. "I'm always supportive of information hubs where students have easy access to information on any issue, but at the same time I'm just very uncomfortable with this type of reaction.
"But if this makes parents feel better and students feel better, it's a good thing."
