2008 Woodie Awards
Emergency response system sound, college says
By: Amy Ledig, News Editor
Issue date: 3/7/08 Section: News
Confused students milling around in the halls by candlelight. Frustrated Residential Assistants unable to get in contact with Residential Life. Info desk staff left with no information about what would happen next. This was the impression students got when the lights went out on Sunday night.
College staff, though, has a different impression.
Dean of Students Jim Hoppe said that things went "probably about as well as they could have. I feel like everyone stepped up and did what they needed to do."
"We were able to get radios to everyone and were all communicating on the same frequency," Bigelow Hall Director Michael Klitzke said. Security got radios out to the Res Life staff very quickly, he said.
Klitzke attributed the hour delay between when the power went out and when a text message was sent alerting the campus community to uncertainty over how long the outage would last. He said that once it became clear that the power might not be coming back on, the college decided the halls needed to be evacuated.
The emergency lights in the halls came on as soon as the power went out, but students needed to be evacuated because the security lights lose power quickly.
"[The emergency lights] last between an hour or two. Two hours is the max," Terry Gorman, director of security, said. "They're meant to help you get out of the building."
Despite the seemingly chaotic scene among staff on Sunday night, Res Life said that there were some factors that worked in their favor. Associate Director of Residential Life Peg Olson and Klitzke said that many staff meetings are at seven on Sunday nights, so RAs were already assembling, in addition to some going on duty at that time. They said that these factors meant that Res Life staff was in place and ready to handle the situation.
"We tell our staff, go to the office, see who's there," Olson said. "The timing was good. It helped that it was Sunday, that we had RAs on duty."
College staff, though, has a different impression.
Dean of Students Jim Hoppe said that things went "probably about as well as they could have. I feel like everyone stepped up and did what they needed to do."
"We were able to get radios to everyone and were all communicating on the same frequency," Bigelow Hall Director Michael Klitzke said. Security got radios out to the Res Life staff very quickly, he said.
Klitzke attributed the hour delay between when the power went out and when a text message was sent alerting the campus community to uncertainty over how long the outage would last. He said that once it became clear that the power might not be coming back on, the college decided the halls needed to be evacuated.
The emergency lights in the halls came on as soon as the power went out, but students needed to be evacuated because the security lights lose power quickly.
"[The emergency lights] last between an hour or two. Two hours is the max," Terry Gorman, director of security, said. "They're meant to help you get out of the building."
Despite the seemingly chaotic scene among staff on Sunday night, Res Life said that there were some factors that worked in their favor. Associate Director of Residential Life Peg Olson and Klitzke said that many staff meetings are at seven on Sunday nights, so RAs were already assembling, in addition to some going on duty at that time. They said that these factors meant that Res Life staff was in place and ready to handle the situation.
"We tell our staff, go to the office, see who's there," Olson said. "The timing was good. It helped that it was Sunday, that we had RAs on duty."
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