Hacktivism Intent – BruceW
UMO’s Irresponsible Lack of Snow Days
Abstract:
UMaine’s decision to force students to attend school on days where weather can be life-threatening should be addressed and changed.
Idea:
The UMaine emergency text system sends out a message to all participants when school is called off and for how long. If we could either persuade the person that decides the content of the texts OR hack the emergency system ourselves we could send out a hoax text that outlines the absurdity of having class on a dangerous day. When a day like this happens and campus decides to continue school functions, a text could be sent from the emergency platform that says something like “On account of inclement storm weather, UMaine officials have decided that school will continue throughout the day despite the obvious danger and poor traffic conditions that such weather imposes. We hope you respect our decision and our blatant disregard for student health and safety. Have a good day!”
Importance:
Launching this hack is purposeful in that it raises student and faculty awareness to the impact of the decisions the University makes without input from those it affects. A disruptive text would likely cause its viewers to fully consider and understand the injustice that the University partakes in, and would ultimately get people thinking about this topic. It’s also a completely non-harmful way of bringing the problem to peoples attention for the following reasons: no one is convinced that classes are actually called off, thus no one’s grades suffer, no one has to be physically harassed to achieve a respectable outcome, and the process doesn’t waste resources or in any way inhibit the proper use of the University’s main method of emergency contact.
Strategies:
This idea uses the tactics Hoax and Creative Disruption. (from Beautiful Trouble) The purpose of the idea is to get people talking and thinking about the subject matter. To do so, one must grab the public’s attention with something off the wall and ridiculous… like these tactics. The idea isn’t trying to intentionally lie to the public, but rather to raise attention to an unfortunate truth in a humorous and non destructive way.
Audience:
Anyone who witnesses the text and anyone who hears of the text should be considered the audience. This would include mostly students, their parents, and UMaine faculty. The hope is that the disruptive text will spark meaningful thought and conversation regarding the University’s ‘snow-day’ decisions and the balance of power in decision making between the University officials and the student body.
Budget:
This project only budgets for time, knowledge, and cunning. To achieve the goal of the project either a University official has to be bribed or persuaded OR someone has to hack into the University’s emergency text system. I’m unsure what software would be necessary to achieve that goal, but it would likely require the help of someone already within the University system. It may take several days or weeks to hack into the system, but once there it would be a simple waiting game. Thankfully this project doesn’t require any money to execute – truly the college kids dream.
One thought on “Hacktivism Intent – BruceW”
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Hmm.. it’s a bit tricky to mess with emergency systems, because people do need to trust they are accurate. But I do see the dilemma you are responding to.
What if there was a parallel system where individuals who work at UMaine could all report on their particular hazards–and other employees could decide based on the available dat. Like the App Waze that lets drivers post info about traffic conditions, this would allow Umaine employees to post weather/driving conditions and so make better decisions possible. Perhaps if enough people cite a hazard, then UMaine could grant a “free” day. That way users have input and help decide weather situation, but do not ultimately compromise the emergency system itself?
Id like to see more thought in visual design, NMD strategies and on possible options.