Part of my job is to be watchful. My students work in a learning laboratory after having absorbed great lessons from talented faculty in the classroom. They are, historically, a thoughtful lot. They are also diligent and hardworking and all of that means I watch a lot, confer some and often say yes and seldom say no. All of the journalism that is done in our newsroom the students do, as it should be. You learn a lot from the practice. You learn a lot from success and from obstacles, too.
I have this great job of watching them work hard, see them figure it all out and then help them as they get stuck or when they need a small course correction. I provide advice and the occasional as-needed oversight, though that sort of thing is usually minor. I’m proud of the work they do, and it has more to do with the first paragraph than this one.
Then the weather rolled in. It had claimed 16 lives in Arkansas and we’ve been waiting for it to arrive here for days. So, I actually did the tiniest bit of curating of news on the campus paper’s Twitter account. And I do still enjoy the feel of pecking away at breaking news, something we occasionally have on our beautiful campus, though not often of this type.
And the weather got a little close tonight. The part of the storm that had the best chance of threatening our campus was tracking a few miles to our northwest and, even then, it did before it got into our area. For a few moments it was a concern.
SU-Tornado alerts now going out via SMS urging you to take cover in internal hallways on bottom floors.
— The Samford Crimson (@SamfordCrimson) April 29, 2014
Take cover and listen up! Sirens from NWS: "LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE… HOOVER…VESTAVIA HILLS…HOMEWOOD…BIRMINGHAM…MOUNTAIN BROOK."
— The Samford Crimson (@SamfordCrimson) April 29, 2014
Jefferson County is once again under a tornado WARNING. Campus is included in the impact areas. NWS has this warning up until 1145 PM CDT.
— The Samford Crimson (@SamfordCrimson) April 29, 2014
NWS: "TAKE COVER NOW. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING."
— The Samford Crimson (@SamfordCrimson) April 29, 2014
Just joining us? Campus remains under a tornado warning. This is serious. Two dozen have been killed in storms in the southeast today.
— The Samford Crimson (@SamfordCrimson) April 29, 2014
They are four miles away from us; take it seriously. RT @Alabama13 Aand we are in the basement. You KNOW that means you should be, too.
— The Samford Crimson (@SamfordCrimson) April 29, 2014
And then the shelter selfies started. A moment or two later the skies calmed down locally. We can’t be sure one didn’t have to do with the other, but let’s not discard anything to hastily.
