The Post Standard: Next semester, college students in Oswego will be the first in the state university system to try out a new security tool that can connect them to university police with the touch of a button on their cell phones.

On Nov. 3, the State University College at Oswego unveiled the first phase of Rave Guardian. Cynthia Adam, the chief of university police at Oswego State, said the response from students has been overwhelming.

"Ninety-eight percent of our students and about the same number of faculty, carry cell phones, so, for us, it made much more sense to use that technology as a personal safety device."

Rave Guardian lets students go to a Web site and input their cell phone number and other personal information. Once they establish a profile, that information can be made available to campus police if the students find themselves in an emergency situation.

Adam said Oswego will be the first SUNY college to take the system to the next level. In early 2009, the school hopes to gain access to the Global Positioning System, or GPS, on the cell phones of registered users. The administration is negotiating now with Verizon, Sprint and AT&T, so location information could be made available to university police if a student feels they are in an unsafe situation.

"So, a student would be able to hit a button, and, in addition to telling us who you are, where you live and what you look like, it would also give us a location of where you are," Adam said.

The police chief is thrilled about this use of technology.

"This is an excellent option because we know young adults sometimes put themselves in situations where they know they may be at risk."

Adam, who has worked in the police department at Oswego since 1983 and was named chief in 2006, says this year's incoming freshmen are the most technologically savvy group of students the college has ever had, something that has forced her department to step up its game.

"In the post-9/11 world, we have seen college campuses across this nation change the way their university police do business. We need to be aware and be prepared for every contingency and every emergency. That's just an unfortunate part of life that we have had to deal with."

The chief said parents want information about the safety of the campus before they make the decision to send their child to a college. As a parent, she understands that.

"That's to be expected, certainly since the shootings at Columbine and then at Virginia Tech."

Each year, the college puts statistics about campus crime up on the Web site. The school also has a close relationship with police in the city of Oswego, the county's sheriff's department and the state police.

"Our campus is a safe one. We have a low crime rate," she said, in part because of those close relationships with community law enforcement. "We have clearly understood roles that we play in terms of which agency will help and in which situations."

Fourteen officers, four dispatchers and four lieutenants work for university police, Adam said. Each of the 28 four-year campuses in the SUNY system has a university police unit, she said.

Adam is one of three female chiefs in that network. The others are Arlene Sabo at Plattsburgh and Ann Burns at Fredonia.

The chief emphasizes that the officers on her staff, who are trained police officers, not only protect students but also educate them. She said police on college campuses continue to wrestle with familiar issues like underage drinking and binge drinking.

"We work hard to educate incoming freshman about the dangers they can face and the expectations the college has of them. All colleges struggle with these issues and will continue to do so because young adults are still in a developmental phase," Adam said.

She does not think the state should lower the drinking age, which has been proposed by some college administrators.

"I see the law as a protective factor. It has most certainly saved lives," Adam said.

Adam said the campus serves about 8,300 students, more than half of those are commuters and many are nontraditional or older students, like herself.

"I take classes alongside the students, and those experiences help me frame what it's like to be a student here," she said. Adam, who will graduate in May 2009 with a master's degree in counseling and student affairs, said she can't think of any job she'd rather have.

"I love this community, I love the officers, and I just love this job."