(KRT) With a war in Iraq and the nation on high alert for terrorism, the nation’s attention has been focused on security in New York and Washington, D.C. But colleges and universities in other urban areas are also preparing for potential emergencies in a variety of ways.
While some universities have created their own warning systems and equipped themselves with emergency sirens, others have focused on instructing students to be alert and have a personal disaster plan.
Washington University in St. Louis, for example, has stockpiled a small amount of food and medical supplies and would use an emergency e-mail system to distribute information in a crisis situation.
Although St. Louis does not have targets as attractive to terrorists as those in New York and Washington, D.C., “if [terrorists] are looking to assault a large urban area, then we’re as vulnerable as anyone else,” said Don Strom, chief of Washington University’s police department.
Nevertheless, the current risk of terrorism in St. Louis appears to be small. “There’s been nothing to indicate the St. Louis area has been threatened,” Strom said.
At the University of Alaska in Anchorage, deputy chief of police Ron Sands said the police department has increased its manpower, its awareness of suspicious people and its interaction between various agencies in the department.
However, the university has not stockpiled any supplies because the city in general is prepared for emergencies.
“You don’t want to have the university competing with the city’s area,” Sands said.
Ultimately, preparation for a terrorist attack is a personal matter, Sands said. “As far as the day-to-day essentials, that is the individual’s responsibility … There’s no way that the university could supply every college student.”
Other colleges also promote the idea of individual awareness and preparedness.
At the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, for example, “we have had a series of committees since Sept. 11 trying to raise awareness that safety is everyone’s responsibility,” said Amy Phenix, director of the university news service.
Buildings at the university are equipped with speaker systems to notify people of an emergency, and the university increased security after Sept. 11, adding more police patrols and locking the doors of its health center earlier in the day.
Although Phenix said public safety officials are more concerned about the Mall of America in Minneapolis as a potential target, the university has not overlooked the fact that “we’re a very large campus in the middle of a large urban area. … It’s not like we’re isolated in the middle of the prairie.”
Some colleges have used their previous experiences with emergencies to plan for a potential terrorist attack.
The University of Washington in Seattle is located in the Puget Sound region, which is at increased risk of earthquakes. An earthquake last hit the university in February 2001.
“We had pretty much set up learning from that experience,” said Vicky Peltzer, chief of the University of Washington police department. “We have been working since then… to increase resources.”
The university has an emergency notification system to alert all administrators and deans to a crisis situation, as well as an emergency advisory system similar to the one created by the Department of Homeland Security.
After the nation’s alert level was raised to orange, the second-highest level, the University of Washington took measures such as locking down the university’s power plant and updating their emergency preparedness Web site to include terrorism.
Universities could definitely be a target for terrorists “because you have a lot of people in a small area,” Peltzer said. “It’s a very open environment.”
The University of California in Los Angeles, another university located in earthquake territory, has had security measures in place long before Sept. 11.
“We have always had an emergency plan, and being prepared for terrorism is just a component of that plan,” said Nancy Greenstein, director of police communication services for the university.
UCLA has a siren system, evacuation plans and stockpiled supplies, as well as a comprehensive system of distributing information-e-mails for staff, updates on Web sites and postings for students in residence halls.
The university is well prepared for a variety of emergencies, Greenstein said. With a daytime population of 70,000, “we look at ourselves as a small city.”
Greenstein said Los Angeles is as much at risk as any large city, although for different reasons than Washington, D.C., or New York. As the home of Hollywood, Los Angeles may be targeted by those who oppose the entertainment industry, she said.
The university itself has not received any threats, but anything is possible, Greenstein said. “Really, none of us have a clue as to what might be happening at this point.”