Review of bucca-NEAR-u

I have to say I really enjoyed this presentation. The first group made an app that facilitates the interaction between students and campus safety. They created an app named bucca-Near-u, which is some really clever word play considering we are the Bucs. The application is very simple to navigate is has two buttons one that says report which allows students to give a description of the incident or incidents that occur to them in college; the report could be anonymous or not. The second button is for emergencies only, it automatically sends campus safety the location of the student within an extremely close proximity; in addition, it allows the person to type a more precise location and or description if the emergency.

I believe this app would be extremely useful in everyday life campus life. Because Christian Brothers University is such a small school some students don’t feel comfortable speaking about incidents that happen to them out of fear of being judged. Giving the option to remain anonymous may increase the incident reports therefore making campus security aware of a bigger part of the crimes committed on campus. Bucca-Near-u provides campus safety with knowledge on what crimes are happening with the most frequency and what measure to take to prevent them.

While the app is great it is not perfect. In my opinion the software would benefit by including a gps map that would direct the officers to the emergencies rather than an approximate on the location. Another that would be a nice feature is to be able to have voice communication with the officers while the crisis is happening. Now, this is something to be treated carefully because in particular situations calling is not the best action to take because the perpetrator could become more aggravated. In other cases, such as domestic violence, the call function can serve as evidence or way to identify the victim and abuser. I am not suggesting that the voice communication be done automatically, but that it should be an option. My third suggestion is that they include the CBU manual for emergencies, while it does not coincide with the concept of the app (which is quick protection) having the norms, rights, and protocols established would come in handy when a student is in doubt on what can be done on the situation.

In general, while bucca-Near-u is a very simple app that solves a very important issue. The safety of the students is one of the top priorities of the administration and faculty, this app provides with a solution that can close some of the breaches in the system or protocols that are already implemented.