Current Events

Alert! Emergency! The public must know! This is only a test

Charlie Craft
November 9, 2011

Today at 11a.m., the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are jointly testing the Emergency Alert System (EAS), and they want to let citizens know that this is just a test, no matter what your television says. The purpose of the EAS is to alert the public to local and national emergencies and to enable the President of the United States to address the public within 10 minutes of the alert. The EAS is the message that interrupts television and radio broadcasts to beep loudly and flash a warning message for 30 seconds.

This is the first simultaneous nationwide test of the EAS, and the government agencies that organized the test are being sure to get the word out. Because EAS test is nationwide, and the system is complex, in some parts of the country there may be no message in the test that announces that it is only a test. FEMA and the FCC have tried to raise awareness about the test with viral videos and media campaigns to prevent individuals or communities from misunderstanding the test.

Federal Emergency Management Agency explains test of EAS

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About the Contributor

Charlie Craft, Arts and Culture Editor

Hand-delivering a golden owl to one of your heroes may seem like an impossible dream, but for Charlie Craft, senior, this is a dream come true. Craft’s favorite band, My Morning Jacket, announced a tour before his recent trip to Japan in the summer of 2012. Knowing the band has an obsession with owls and bears, he made it his personal goal to find an item to give to the band. While scouring various markets in Tokyo, Kobe and Osaka, Japan, Craft found the perfect golden owl. Craft was luckily able to obtain sound-check tickets where he met the singer, Jim James. After briefly talking, he handed James the owl and in return, received an owl of his own. Star-struck, he could do nothing but say “thank you.”

“Owls are my favorite animal,” Craft said, “Because they look funny and are silent killers.”

For now, Craft has to worry about repaying his parents for his Japan trip. Craft works at Bellagio’s Pizza where he is a self-proclaimed “Pizza Insider.”

“A Pizza Insider does everything short of delivering pizzas,” Craft said.

Being stuck in a terrible job is Craft’s greatest fear, which is not the current case. Craft plans to work at Bellagio’s until college. He hopes to attend the University of Oregon, ideally majoring in media studies but he admits it could change at any moment.

The college search process has been “weighing down on” him for a while and Craft is ready to finalize his future plans. Until then, he plans on protecting his coveted owl from his three cats and golden retriever and also “loving” his cat Curry.