I missed all the excitement today at NDSU.  A credible bomb threat that resulted in a campus-wide evacuation.  Whoa – scary stuff and big news.  Today’s bomb threat was the third bomb threat in North Dakota this week. Happily, the campus was cleared and school was back in session by 2 PM.

But the point is, I missed it.  My colleague Jessica and I were headed back home from Maryland.  We got all our CENS (Campus Emergency Notification System) messages while we sat at the airport.  I was very happy to see CENS being methodically used to handle the messaging in this incident.  I hope it will remind folks who are not fans of the system that it has its value.

I sure am curious about who called in that bomb threat.  There is a lot of speculation presently as to whether NDSU’s bomb threat was connected to the other recent bomb threats.  Making a bomb threat, even when there is no bomb, is a very serious offense.  Today, productivity (and hence, money) was lost at NDSU.  There was also a tremendous expenditure of law enforcement manpower (and hence, money).  Thankfully, there was no harm to people or property – other than stress and inconvenience.

The bottom line though – I missed it.  A full evacuation of the campus – the only one that has ever happened in my time at NDSU – had to happen when I wasn’t around.  I hate when I miss all the excitement, but I guess as far as experiences go I can ultimately live without the experience of participating in a campus-wide evacuation.

Never fear, I am sure to get detailed briefings from my students and colleagues – I will get the good, bad, and ugly of the event in stereo.  That is the next best thing to being there. 😉

Day one thousand one hundred and sixty-six of the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C