October, normally a month of colorful leaves, a chilled breeze, and Halloween shivers has morphed into an early snowfall, icy streets, and way-to-soon-out-of-the-closet winter coats and snow boots.  There is no doubt that winter is coming quicker than most of us would like, and the chances for a peaceful snowfall that comes two days before Christmas and dissolves a week later are rather slim. Likelihood is, this winter is going to be rough – a perfect reason to have USafety Text Alerts on your phone. This free, mass text service is new to USF this year but is looking to be very handy.  Through USafety Text Alerts, messages dealing with certain campus alerts will be sent to all students who have subscribed.  These campus alerts will include notifications such as: off-campus parking warnings, inclement weather announcements, class cancellations, and various emergencies that should happen to take place on campus.  However, do not fear; Usafety Text Alerts will not flood your inbox with unnecessary messages nor will mass texts be sent out about campus or sporting events.  Only information that is official University safety announcements will come your way. As of now, 657 students at USF have subscribed to receive these text alerts through the drawing and possibly more through other instance.  Kristin Fick, Safe Campus Advocate, is very pleased.  She considers this to be a huge success.  However, if you are not yet in that mass majority, it is not to late. You can still subscribe by texting “utextme usf” to 368674.  You will then have to reply to the two opt-in messages to confirm your subscription. After this, you will receive a confirmation text stating the process is complete and you will then be in on all the safety alerts campus has to offer. Speaking to various students across campus who have already subscribed to this service, outlooks sound hopeful, but still indecisive at this time.  One student, Rachel Wuertz, stated, “I have yet to receive anything from them so I’m not sure how I feel about it. I survived without it last year, but I guess it could be helpful.”  And helpful is exactly what Kristin is shooting for.  She hopes this service becomes a useful resource to the USF community.  Alongside USafety Text Alerts, Kristin has also been busy with Domestic Violence Awareness Month, another stirring aspect of October.  Between various campus events, the silhouette figures located in Java City, and talking with students, she hopes to bring about awareness of the domestic violence risks we all face.  As the month wraps up, only one event remains, but it is surely one worth taking the time to go see.  On Monday, October 19, nationally renowned author and speaker, Mike Domitrz, will be back in Sioux Falls with another feat of “Can I Kiss You.”  This presentation is a hilarious, but revealing, look at intimacy and dating.  If you talk to many of the student who had the opportunity to see this last year, they will all agree that this is certainly a must-see event.  This happening is free to all students, thanks to sponsors Volunteers of America, and will take place at 7:00pm in the Back Alley at Augustana’s Morrison Commons. Kristin wished to end with this: “I feel it is important that we have educational and awareness events regarding the topic of domestic violence available for our students, as domestic violence is not specific to gender, race, religion, education level or socio-economic status.” So get out there, subscribe to USafety Text Alerts, make yourself knowledgeable with Kristin’s cause, and know that if you ever need to talk, her office is right behind the large desk in the Academic Success Center and her door is always open.