June 25 was a normal day. During my doctor appointment I noticed the signs instructing me to silence my cell phone, but like any other Crackberry addict, I opted for the vibrate option. “No one will call me at 9 a.m.” I thought.

Wrong. Just before 9:30 my phone went crazy. It sounded like a million of those fuzzy bees I hate so much were swarming around in my purse. Seven texts messages, four phone calls and three voice mails later I welcomed a brief second of silence. Not even one minute later my phone started vibrating uncontrollably again. Three things immediately passed through my mind: Tom Brady had re-torn his ACL and my fantasy team was doomed to fail, Barack Obama had been assassinated or there was a shooting on the SMU campus. Fortunately none were true, though given the urgency of the text messages you would think all three had occurred simultaneously.

I ripped my phone from my purse to find a text message saying “Main Campus Only: There is an emergency on campus. Please shelter in the nearest building now. Do not go outside. Will update.”

Thanks, SMU. Don’t worry that I’m situated directly across from campus with no idea what is going on. Meanwhile, my poor mom all the way back in Colorado received a phone call saying “This is an emergency message from SMU about Nicole Jacobsen…” I swear my mom’s next call was to a mortuary to plan my funeral. I called my mom to tell her I was alive. She breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Apparently SMU didn’t release any information about what was happening to anyone on or around campus, but they sure as heck made it known that there was some kind of emergency and everyone should stay inside. Even my friends studying abroad in Europe had Facebook messages thanking SMU for their concern across the Atlantic.

About 30 minutes after SMU flooded all phone lines students finally learned there was a gas leak on the far end of campus. My question to SMU is, would it really have been that hard to include that information in the first wave of text messages? I commend SMU on their effort to alert the community in case of an emergency, but rather than send me scurrying into my apartment and locking every door behind me as I barricade myself in my bathroom with a tennis racket, a little more information would have been greatly appreciated.

Just for the record, Tom Brady is fine. He is expected to defeat the Bills (and the terrible Terrell Owens) on Sept.14 in the Patriots opening game at Gillette Stadium.

Nicole Jacobsen is a senior journalism and advertising double major. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].