}
   public static Vector getAlertList(String requestUrl) throws IOException {
      Vector al = null;
      ObjectInputStream inFromServlet = null;
      try {
         URL studentDBservlet = new URL( requestUrl );
         URLConnection servletConnection = studentDBservlet.openConnection();
         servletConnection.setDoInput(true);
         servletConnection.setDoOutput(true);
         servletConnection.setUseCaches (false);
         servletConnection.setRequestProperty
             ("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream");
         inFromServlet = new ObjectInputStream(servletConnection.getInputStream());
         al = (Vector) inFromServlet.readObject();
      }
      catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
         e.printStackTrace();
      }
      finally {
         if (inFromServlet != null) {
            inFromServlet.close();
         }
      }
      return al;
   }