Chancellor discusses campus concerns

<b>University will focus on solving issues involving wages, safety through transition to Gene Block</b>

By Jackie Barber
Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Acting Chancellor Norman Abrams addressed myriad staff concerns such as Chancellor-elect Gene Block, employee compensation, and campus security on Tuesday afternoon during a staff meeting.

About 100 staff members attended the meeting, hosted by Staff Assembly President Shelley Brown.

Abrams began his speech by praising the staff&#39;s contributions to UCLA, calling the unique sense of community fostered on campus "a treasure" for such a large university and said he is impressed with Block.

"You will find him open, a quick study, and one whose values are all in the right place," Abrams said. "I&#39;m confident he will make a great chancellor."

Abrams said the biggest challenge for Block will be "recruitment and retention of both staff and faculty."

He cited the high cost of housing in Los Angeles as an obstacle in attracting employees from elsewhere, as potential employees have expressed concern about their ability to afford quality local housing.

Each year the university attempts to increase the salaries of its faculty and staff, but these salaries have fallen below market, Abrams said, adding that a long-term goal for the university is to bring salaries back to market value.

Raises for the university&#39;s lowest-paid workers is also a current focus, Abrams added. He said the university has been working with the unions toward this goal.

Abrams called the salary concern "a work in progress," but said he believes Block is up to the task and is familiar with similar issues because of his experience serving as president of the University of Virginia.

UCLA employee compensation is a major concern not only for the UCLA community, but also for the Los Angeles area, said Nicole Moore, lead organizer for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union Local 3299.

"Custodians (at UCLA) are paid 25 percent below what community college custodians are paid, and many people here are without a living wage," she said. "We have many concerns about the budgeting process. We want to make sure UCLA is not creating poverty in the Los Angeles community."

She said the university must address its role in providing quality jobs and affordable health care.

Abrams enlisted Karl Ross, chief of university police, to address campus security in light of the recent Virginia Tech shootings.

Ross said there are 61 campus officers, and after the Columbine shootings in 1999, these officers have been trained for active-shooter situations.

The department is also "tied into a terrorism early-action task force," Ross said.

Ross said a group from the department meets with Student Psychological Services weekly to monitor possible threats.

The most likely disaster on campus, though, is an earthquake, Ross said.

Abrams pointed to the new Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, which is not yet open, as a positive development this year.

"It&#39;s going to be the most technologically advanced hospital in the United States, and possibly the world," he said.

Brown read anonymous questions submitted for Abrams by the staff, including a question on the "lingering challenge" of course and space availability.

The session also gave Abrams the opportunity to speak about the renovation of Pauley Pavilion, and he said a committee has formed to raise money and make decisions on the project.

The building&#39;s name will not change, nor will the basic structure, but the committee has hired a firm to do preliminary designs, which Abrams has seen and called "very exciting," he said.

Design ideas include reconstructing the bleachers to create better viewing angles and building a concourse to encase the building. Digging underneath Pauley to build a practice court is also a possibility, though an expensive one, he said.

The renovation may be constructed by John Wooden&#39;s 100th birthday in about three years, Abrams said, prompting enthusiastic chatter from the audience.

Dinora Duarte, Staff Assembly historian and secretary and an organizer of the event, said though there were no surprises, she was pleased with Abrams&#39; presentation.

"Considering he won&#39;t be here after July 31, I thought he had a good grasp on where the university is going," she said.

She added she believes the assembly gave the staff a valuable opportunity to hear ideas firsthand from the chancellor.

"We actually really look forward to the event," she said of the annual assembly.

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Original Source:<a href=http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2007/may/09/chancellor_discusses_campus_concerns/> The Daily Bruin - May 9, 2007</a>

Jackie Barber

2007-07-13

Sara Hood

Saba Riazati <editor@media.ucla.edu>

eng

Editorial: UCLA needs emergency notification system now

Friday, May 18, 2007

UCLA and university police proved Wednesday that, far from their recent assurances of campus safety, their emergency response does not provide nearly enough immediate notification, leaving the campus unaware of possible danger.

Around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, local authorities received reports of an individual in the possession of some sort of weapon - possibly a rifle - in Westwood&#39;s North Village.

The reports sent a swarm of Los Angeles Police Department cruisers to the North Village. Cars blocked several streets in an attempt to control traffic and prevent individuals from walking into potentially dangerous areas.

About three blocks away, UCLA continued to go about its business as if there were not a care in the world.

In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, it is remarkable - and unacceptable - that any immediate danger to the UCLA community was not communicated promptly to the entire campus.

Given the recent announcements and assurances made by UCLA officials regarding campus safety, it is natural to think the university would have a short-term plan in place to deal with emergencies until a more comprehensive plan were in effect.

Thankfully, the individual was not in possession of a rifle, but rather a crossbow, and no one was injured. But the situation could have been very different - and more dangerous - based on the initial reports.

In a recent public meeting, Acting Chancellor Norman Abrams addressed how UCPD has been prepared for active-shooter situations since the 1999 Columbine shootings, so we know the police do have a plan in place.

Of course, it is not expected that at the slightest hint of danger UCLA would break out megaphones, sound alarms and call in the National Guard.

But to leave the community completely in the dark until more than an hour after the incident is over is simply unacceptable, and the university should be working more vigorously with UCPD to develop a response plan for reports of danger in and around UCLA.

As it was, many students, faculty and staff were left completely unaware of the situation unless they were at a computer to check either the UCPD or the Daily Bruin Web site for breaking news updates.

By the end of the day, the only notification of the incident sent to any members of the UCLA community came in the form of an e-mail by K.C. Kainsinger, UCPD emergency medical services manager, sent to the Campus Safety listserv at 4:33 p.m., well after the incident had been resolved.

One wonders why the one resource available to administrators - a campus-wide mass e-mail - was not utilized earlier to alert students, staff and faculty to the situation, a resource which could kill two birds with one stone by dispelling rumors about the incident simultaneously.

In the end, regardless of the endless reasons UCLA officials can provide in order to explain the response - or lack thereof - there is really no excuse.

The bottom line is that there was a potentially dangerous situation very near UCLA, in the heart of the off-campus student community, and both UCLA and UCPD did nothing to proactively alert campus community members.

This needs to change immediately. It is understandable that a stronger plan for emergency response is in the works, but basic responses, such as campus-wide notification, need to be in place now.

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Original Source:<a href=http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2007/may/18/editorial-ucla-needs-emergency-notification-system/>
The Daily Bruin - May 18, 2007</a>

Editorial

The Daily Bruin

2007-07-13

Sara Hood

Saba Riazati <editor@media.ucla.edu>

eng

Scare response scrutinized

<i>Community members criticize level of communication during Wednesday&#39;s incident</i>

By Edward Truong
Friday, May 18, 2007

Some students and staff expressed concern that the university did not communicate quickly enough with the community following Wednesday&#39;s weapon scare in Westwood.

But officials said the community was not in danger and so they focused on controlling rumors.

L.A. police shut down several blocks in the North Village in response to reports of an armed individual in the area Wednesday afternoon. In the investigation, police found a crossbow rather than a gun, and university officials did not take any formal action on campus.

Nancy Greenstein, director of police community services for UCPD, said it was a "self-contained potential incident. ... The police (had) it under control."

"There appeared to be no risk to campus or population," she said.

But some believe the university should have informed students and staff about the incident sooner.

Ruth Tesfamichael, a second-year English student, said she had no real information about what was going on, except she heard rumors from another student that there was a gunman in the area.

"Word of mouth spread really quickly," she said. "Everyone was misinformed."

She said she hoped the university would have found a way to reach students.

"I expected an e-mail (from the university), but didn&#39;t get anything," she said.

Nancy Chakravarty, director of admissions for Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School, said she was especially concerned about the lack of communication because parents were calling in to the school with questions and she was able to offer no response.

"We had no idea that anything was going on," Chakravarty said. "One of our teachers came up and asked what ... the helicopters (flying around the area) were for."

She said her staff was entirely unaware of the situation until concerned parents started contacting the office.

"Parents had called and said there had been a shooting on campus."

Lawrence Lokman, assistant vice chancellor of University Communications, called the incident a "rumor-control" issue for the university.

He said media relations officials spent Wednesday contacting City News Service and other media outlets to correct reports, such as KCBS&#39;s report of a "UCLA Gunman" which was later removed.

"We all realize we&#39;re in a fast media environment," he said. "These kinds of things always drive home (a) level of angst. ... (It&#39;s) important not to add to the angst."

Greenstein said e-mails were later sent out to various mailing lists or list-servs that went to building coordinators and residence halls.

"The e-mail that people are talking about was addressing the rumor control," she said, referring to the list-serv notice at around 4 p.m., after the incident was over.

E-mails were not sent out to the entire UCLA community.

"One thing (we) want to avoid is over-noticing people. Focus groups (formed after the Virginia Tech shooting) have said if they get too much information or bulletins, they stop looking at them," Greenstein said. "When it&#39;s really important, we&#39;re going to tell you."

Chakravarty contacted UCPD and was told there was no shooting and the students were not in danger.

There are 435 students who attend the on-campus elementary school, which is the laboratory school of the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, according to the school&#39;s Web site.

The school day ends at 2:40 p.m. and students wait to be picked up in the carpool area at 2:45 p.m. The incident was first reported at around 1:30 p.m., according to witnesses, and police re-opened the streets by 3:20 p.m.

She said it was good that officials tried to lower people&#39;s anxiety, but believes she should have been notified immediately, even if her school was not at risk.

"(It&#39;s) important that we be informed so that we can take action if we need to, and we can allay the fears of the parents," she said. "Parents hear things, they get worried, they call us and they expect us to know."

Since the Virginia Tech shooting on April 16, university campuses nationwide have been sensitive to campus safety issues.

Greenstein said Wednesday&#39;s incident was not an issue of public safety and was not similar to the events at Virginia Tech.

But she added that emergency protocols would have been enacted had the situation been similar to the Virginia Tech shooting.

"(They are) totally not comparable situations," she said.

Lokman said there are trained officials and processes in place if there had been a more serious incident.

He said that depending on the situation, university administrators could choose to use one or more different means of mass communication for safety purposes, such as loudspeakers on police cars, and the campus television station on channel 3 and the emergency radio station, 1630 AM.

He said there is also technology in place, created before the Virginia Tech shooting, that would allow the university to instant message the community and override Web sites such as the UCLA home page and MyUCLA.

"That is technology we&#39;re evaluating to add to our mix of options," he said.

Gabe Rose, Undergraduate Students Association Council president-elect, said university administrators should consider alternative methods of communication.

He said since students do not constantly check their e-mails, "(it&#39;s) important to look for other ways to distribute the message. ... E-mail is not effective."

Instead, Rose said student leaders and university officials should rethink the current policies to come up with different ways to reach students in case of emergencies, such as a text-message system.

"It&#39;s important to not get caught up in the status quo, but to be creative and think harder," he said, adding that students should express their concerns and share ideas with student government leaders on how to make the campus safer.

"If you don&#39;t feel safe on campus, that&#39;s a huge problem," he said.

Greenstein said it is important to distinguish between rumors and official university notices but said the incident on Wednesday was relatively minor.

"(There were) very few people who had issues. ... Many people saw it for what it was worth," Greenstein said.

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Original Source:<a href=http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2007/may/18/scare_response_scrutinized/>The Daily Bruin - May 18, 2007</a>

Edward Truong

2007-07-13

Sara Hood

Saba Riazati <editor@media.ucla.edu>

eng