Planned sirens to alert campus in emergency
Michael Bechek
Issue date: 9/5/07 Section: Campus News
An emergency siren system that would alert the entire campus when activated is now awaiting approval and cooperation from the city of Providence.
If approved, the sirens would be the most significant of several efforts by the University to increase security on campus after a Virginia Tech student killed 32 people and himself at the Blacksburg, Va., campus in April in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
The plan proposes the installation of three sirens - one near the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center, a second around Thayer Street and a third closer to the center of campus, said Walter Hunter, vice president for administration and the University's chief risk officer. At the origin of the sound, the siren would be "substantially louder than 100 decibels," he said.
The system would be designed only to reach Brown's College Hill campus, but "if things were quiet downtown, you might hear it," he added.
A working group with representatives from the University, the Providence Emergency Management Agency and Providence's police, fire and communications departments has met weekly over the summer, said Providence City Councilman Seth Yurdin, who represents Ward 1, which includes much of Brown's campus.
Yurdin said the group has been meeting to address "mostly ... technical requirements." But the University will now have to work to win the support of neighbors on College Hill as the plan seeks public approval.
"I think there are a lot of questions that we need to make sure are answered," Yurdin said, "about what happens when this siren goes off."
Among those, he said, are when the sirens would be tested and how people would be advised what to do in the event of a real emergency.
Yurdin said he will introduce an ordinance Thursday night to the City Council that would provide the framework for approving the sirens and give PEMA the authority to handle the approval process.
The proposed ordinance also sets out specific requirements for what Yurdin called "public outreach," mandating that communication with the neighborhood be coordinated with regular testing, according to a draft he provided to The Herald.
If approved, the sirens would be the most significant of several efforts by the University to increase security on campus after a Virginia Tech student killed 32 people and himself at the Blacksburg, Va., campus in April in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
The plan proposes the installation of three sirens - one near the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center, a second around Thayer Street and a third closer to the center of campus, said Walter Hunter, vice president for administration and the University's chief risk officer. At the origin of the sound, the siren would be "substantially louder than 100 decibels," he said.
The system would be designed only to reach Brown's College Hill campus, but "if things were quiet downtown, you might hear it," he added.
A working group with representatives from the University, the Providence Emergency Management Agency and Providence's police, fire and communications departments has met weekly over the summer, said Providence City Councilman Seth Yurdin, who represents Ward 1, which includes much of Brown's campus.
Yurdin said the group has been meeting to address "mostly ... technical requirements." But the University will now have to work to win the support of neighbors on College Hill as the plan seeks public approval.
"I think there are a lot of questions that we need to make sure are answered," Yurdin said, "about what happens when this siren goes off."
Among those, he said, are when the sirens would be tested and how people would be advised what to do in the event of a real emergency.
Yurdin said he will introduce an ordinance Thursday night to the City Council that would provide the framework for approving the sirens and give PEMA the authority to handle the approval process.
The proposed ordinance also sets out specific requirements for what Yurdin called "public outreach," mandating that communication with the neighborhood be coordinated with regular testing, according to a draft he provided to The Herald.