Committee discusses safety issues

EDITOR's NOTE: This article originally published in The Advocate on Nov. 9, 2011. To view original post, visit AccentAdvocate.com.

Each set of eyes on campus sees it with a different view.

Faculty members see dangers students do not. Students spot those missed by managers.

Utilizing the different perspectives of all the constituencies at Contra Costa College to solve safety concerns is the goal of the Safety Committee.

"It's a higher priority than anything — safety on campus," Buildings and Grounds Manager Bruce King said. "Everybody is committed."

ASU Sen. Corri Maloney, who represents students on the committee, said she joined to help spread information on safety.

"People don't really know what they (the Safety Committee) are doing, but they see violence going on," the 19-year-old political science major said.

She said students can take measures to reduce their exposure to robberies on campus.

"Violence-wise, so you're not so vulnerable to robbers, keep your heads up and walk in pairs," Maloney said.

"For night classes, use the (police aide) escort service," she said. "A lot of people don't ever use it."

But whether it is crime prevention, emergency preparedness or the risk of tripping on a crack in the floor, it comes up at the Safety Committee's monthly meetings.

Police Services officers, managers, members of the faculty, classified staff and students each have a voice in the shared governance committee, as per Assembly Bill 1725.

"Get as many view points in the room as possible," Academic Senate President Wayne Organ said. "We are very dedicated to that concept."

The committee does not reach decisions by majority. Its members do not vote on resolutions, but have to reach a consensus.

Once all dissenting opinions are satisfied, suggestions and recommendations are passed on to the College Council, of which the Safety Committee is a sub-committee.

The Safety Committee has so far focused on holding evacuation drills in different buildings each month this semester, Organ said.

Because of the different perspectives on the committee, he said, its members decided department chairpersons should be notified before evacuation drills.

"Department (chairpersons) need to know what's going on," Organ said.

It would be uneconomical to hold a drill, for instance, when students are in a lab handling materials meant for a one-time use.

Stopping the lab for a drill would leave the department with incomplete assignments and wasted instructional tools.

A district voice was on the committee until budget cuts in July eliminated Police Services Officer Teddy Terstegge's districtwide emergency preparedness coordinator position.

Although still employed with the district, covering Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, some of Terstegge's responsibilities "fell through the cracks," Police Services Lt. Jose Oliveira said, when his position was cut.

One drill in which Terstegge planned for the district to participate was the Great California ShakeOut on Oct. 20.

No one at CCC participated in the organized drill on the same day two earthquakes centered in Berkeley shook the East Bay.

The epicenters of the magnitudes 4.0 and 3.8, respectively, sat just west of the Hayward Fault, which runs though the CCC campus.

"In hindsight, we should have (participated in the drill), regardless of the earthquakes or not," Safety Committee Chairperson Mariles Magalong said.