By ALI ANDERSON
Yellow flashlights, black garbage bags and red binders are abundant in the Harris Fine Arts Center.
These items were given to faculty members in the College of Fine Arts and Communications as part of a new emergency preparedness plan, said Scott M. Boyter, assistant dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications.
“The university requires us to have an emergency preparedness plan. We customized it to fit our specific needs,” said Boyter, who initiated a new evacuation plan for the building in August 1997.
The flashlights were distributed for use in power outages at the HFAC, he said.
“Our biggest concern is that there are not a lot of windows in some parts of the HFAC. In those cases a flashlight would be helpful for evacuation,” Boyter said.
The bags were distributed to protect faculty computers from the spray of ceiling sprinklers during fires, Boyter said. The binders contain evacuation maps and assignments.
“In case power is lost for whatever reason, we must have an evacuation plan. We have to leave the building,” Boyter said.
However, the evacuation tools are not being used as originally intended, said Layne Peterson, business manager in the communications department and member of the HFAC evacuation crew.
Some flashlights have been reported missing, Peterson said. Since they are near near classroom doors, the flashlights are easily accessible but are also vulnerable to theft, he said.
“There’s really no way to secure them,” Peterson said. “We have to assume honesty. If (the flashlights) are borrowed, we assume they will be returned.”
Students who attend classes in the HFAC often disregard emergency procedures, Peterson said. Music practice rooms “baffle sound” and make it difficult for students to hear fire alarms, he said.
“There needs to be some communication from the faculty and dean’s office to students about the importance of reacting to those alarms,” Peterson said. “It’s my responsibility to get them out, and when they don’t, it keeps me from going to the next rooms.”
The evacuation plan may be ineffective because faculty members are not in the habit of using the flashlights and bags, Peterson said.
“When I hear the fire alarm, I don’t think to grab my flashlight. I don’t think many of the other faculty members do either,” Peterson said.
Faculty members appreciate the emergency preparedness plan and keep the binders in their offices, said Shannon Harrison, administrative assistant for the school of music.
“I think they’re grateful we have (an emergency preparedness plan). But I hope we never have to use (it),” Harrison said.
