Each department assigned specific tasks in the event of a disaster

UA officials adopted an official emergency plan yesterday that designates how each department would respond in the case of any emergency.

The temporary plan addresses emergencies by designating tasks that each department on campus would perform in the event of a disaster.

The emergencies addressed range in severity from broken pipes to nuclear disasters.

The plan has been informally used for more than 10 years, said university spokeswoman Sharon Kha. It was used recently when administrators went to the University of Arizona Mall to negotiate with a group of students and Tucsonans on Oct. 12 when they protested the installation of telescopes on Mt. Graham on campus.

Departmental duties depend partly on each organization's regular duties.

For example, the Center for Computing and Information Technology would be responsible for providing Internet and broadcast capabilities, while Residence Life would find temporary housing for anyone displaced and the Office of Curriculum and Registration would reschedule classes.

"If you're well-prepared and everyone knows what they're going to do, it's just an incident," Kha said. "But if you're not well prepared...it becomes an emergency."

The plan will be formalized pending suggestions from members of the UA campus community.

"We looked at this and thought it was a really good plan, but the president wants response from the campus community, in case there was anything we missed," Kha said.

In the plan, administrators in each college and department are instructed to create their own emergency response plans.

An emergency response team, led by UA President Peter Likins, Vice President for Executive Operations Patti Ota, Chief of Police for UA Tony Daykin, Dean of Students Melissa Vito and others, if necessary, would respond to any emergency that threatened the life or health of a member of the UA community, public or private property, or the ability of the UA to operate.

In a situation that involved fire or police department officials, those officials would have jurisdiction over the emergency.

The official emergency plan can be viewed at www.arizona.edu/emergency.shtml. Any member of the UA campus community who would like to comment on the plan may contact Patti Ota at 621-5511.