Around campus, 130 radios have been installed to alert offices of bad weather.

This project, funded by the Environmental Health and Safety and Physical Plant departments, is a new way to contact campus staff and students in emergency situations, said NIU meteorologist Gilbert Sebenste.

“We needed a reliable way to alert offices in case of a major weather crisis,” he said. “They should go off in major weather events, but they won’t go off for things like snow or ice. They beep at you when a life-threatening event comes along. If this occurs, the radio then makes an announcement.”

Sebenste has installed the radios in campus offices, such as the front desks of residence halls and offices in the Campus Life Building.

The first few radios had no problems, Sebenste said. However, once more radios were installed, he realized they couldn’t all pick up the frequency.

“The original signal wasn’t strong enough to reach all of the radios,” Sebenste said. “We managed to get a new radio station, KXI-58, which has a longer-reaching frequency. It’s a weather station that was strong enough to penetrate most of the offices.”

Radios were put in every residence hall’s front desk, except for Neptune Hall. Sebenste said Neptune Hall has bad reception and, because its wiring system is so old, a special receiver is going to be put in to pick up the frequency. Neptune probably won’t be rewired, Sebenste said, because it would cost too much.

Fanta Jones-Brown, a senior English major and Stevenson Towers North main desk supervisor, said the radios were a worthwhile investment. While they haven’t helped yet, Jones-Brown said they will in the long run.

Sebenste said the radios cost about $50 each. He plans to finish installing the remaining few by Feb. 1.”We need a reliable way to alert offices in case of a major weather crisis. They should go off in major weather events, but they won’t go off for things like snow or ice.”

Gilbert Sebenste

NIU meterologist