The foreign sounds of the fire alarm going off in the Lowder business building hardly alarmed the students, but Auburn University was not taking the bomb threat lightly. Response to the threat allowed for a self-evaluation of Auburn’s emergency-response plans.

Alarms went off around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 5 in response to a bomb threat in the building. Lowder was evacuated and part of Magnolia Avenue was blocked by police as a search was conducted. Auburn police used an explosive-detecting canine to clear the building.

“I was sitting in class and the fire alarm started going off,” Ashley Mittelstaedt, a senior in marketing said. “I didn’t know what it was because I never heard it in Lowder before.” The building was quickly evacuated. Everyone was told to move to the far ends of the parking lot by AUPD.

“Some professors got in their cars because they were scared. They said it was a bomb,” Mittelstaedt said. “We thought it was a rumor, but it turns out it was real because AU Alert called us and told us.”

The AU Alert System was implemented in November 2007 following shootings at Virginia Tech. The idea was to warn students of potential dangers while also expunging rumors, which became essential following the Lauren Burk incident.

Since it began, the AU Alert has been target of both praise and criticism. Recipients complain of too many and unnecessary warnings while also dissatisfied with the timing of the messages. Students received warnings about the Lowder bomb threat at around 12:30 p.m.; about an hour after police were called to the scene and an hour before the “all clear” was given. Students also recall nights of endless texts, phone calls and e-mails, indicating a severe weather or tornado watch. Since such time, the AU Alert System has undergone some modifications choosing to avoid weather warnings unless they are to have a significant impact on the campus.

According to Auburn University’s Department of Public Safety and Security, no acts of arson have been committed on- or off-campus in Auburn between 2005 and 2007. And the average for arson crime in Auburn is well below the national average. While students should feel safe, they should also take seriously warnings administered by the university.

“It can get annoying when it rains, but I’m glad we have AU Alert,” Mittelstaedt said. “How else are you going to tell 20,000 people they’re in danger?”