by KYW's Mike DeNardo

It's a test. It's only a test. Temple University will be testing its emergency alert system this evening, sending e-mails, texts (in photo above) and voice messages to students and staff.

In the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting, universities nationwide have been developing alert systems to inform students and staff in an emergency.

From 5 to 7 this evening, Temple will test its system, sending 41,000 e-mails, voice and text messages out...and putting a yellow alert on the www.temple.edu web site.

Temple's VP for Computer and Information Services Tim O'Rourke:

"We have determined that when we use this system, we're only going to use it in a circumstance where we require individuals to take action: Either get out of a building or stay in a building or stay home because of weather."

One reason the test is being done, is to see how long it'll take the messages to actually go out. O'Rourke estimates it may take as long as an hour to have all of the emails processed and delivered.

Photo: Mike DeNardo