The words on bright red warning signs never signal good news.
"No trespassing" or "Beware of dog" are words that have snuffed out many an entertaining evening. It's not so much the promise of a giant dog that scares would-be revelers: it's more the fear of how big that dog could be.
The words on the sign let the imagination run wild. What could be no more than a terrier turns into a pit bull without more information.
Students could be encountering a similar situation today when they read the warning signs around campus about the recently reported measles case at ASU.
The signs warn students of the symptoms of measles and direct potentially infected people to go the Student Health and Wellness Center. It's what the signs don't say that worries and frustrates us.
The crucial information for the ASU community is that this was only one case of measles.
Without this information, people could quickly imagine an "outbreak."
Once that word is in the mind, it's only a short step to students skipping their daily latte at the Hayden Library cafe or not going to the library altogether.
We're not saying students are going to drop their classes or start wearing surgical masks around campus, but when our only source of information is an ominous red sign we start to worry.
The potential for panic could have been stopped with a simple e-mail from ASU administrators with important facts about the measles case. There also needed to be contextual information on the odds of contracting the disease if a person is immunized.
ASU found out about the incident on Thursday and, as of Sunday, hadn't sent out a mass e-mail to every student explaining the situation. Instead, the administration notified those who had not been immunized.
That's a great idea, but what about the rest of the ASU community?
E-mail's an easy way to distribute information, and the administration has seen this. Remember that e-mail you received after the tsunami? ASU was quick to let us know that it cared about the international tragedy, but has been eerily silent on a measles case on its own turf.
We understand ASU didn't want to start a panic by blowing this out of proportion. A single case of measles is hardly a reason to quarantine Hayden Library and force us all into biomedical suits.
The University also wanted to wait to pinpoint exactly where the danger areas for infection were. But this still doesn't prevent an e-mail with basic and clarifying information.
ASU accidentally created the potential for confusion and misinformation. The student rumor mill is alive and well, and erroneous information spreads the quickest. ASU is taking steps to educate the public by putting information on the Web. It's a good idea, but the best plan of action should have arrived in our inbox three days ago.
