A university committee, charged with developing emergency response plans, recommended yesterday setting aside central funds every year for emergency response expenses.

The Campus Emergency Response Team's October report details recommendations for future improvements to crisis preparation and prevention on the UA campus.

Recommendations include conducting periodic mock disaster drills, hiring a threat assessment consultant firm to develop procedures for identifying and managing violent behavior, and setting aside central funds every year for emergency response expenses.

"There's so many unanticipated issues that can arise in a crisis. You need to have the ability to make decisions knowing you have the resources to back them up," said Sharon Kha, UA spokeswoman.

Other recommendations include clarifying procedures dealing with the recently adopted campus-wide Incident Command System that will be implemented in times of crisis, as well as establishing available funds for mass clinics if they are needed in the event of a bio-terrorism attack.

President Peter Likins formally established the Campus Emergency Response team in 2000, although it has had an unofficial existence for over 20 years, Kha said.

However, the focus of CERT has shifted dramatically in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the College of Nursing faculty murders of Oct. 28, 2002.

"In the last two years, four critical incidents ÷ two international, one national and one local ÷ have had an enormous impact on the campus and have served to propel emergency preparedness to priority status on campus," said Saundra Taylor, senior vice president of Campus Life.

Taylor said there are two objectives in emergency planning. The first objective is to prevent a crisis from occurring by developing methods to identify violent and threatening behavior in students.

The second objective is to create an infrastructure that will minimize the disastrous effects of major crisis, which could range from a computer attack to a natural disaster to an external attack involving biological or chemical weapons.

"The University of Arizona is in a stronger position today to handle crisis situations," Taylor said.

The October report also outlines several recently implemented measures in crisis prevention, including a new Policy on Threatening Behavior by Students.

The Faculty Senate passed the new threatening behavior policy on Oct. 6, which prohibits threatening behavior from a student toward any member of the campus community.

Threatening behavior has been defined as any written or oral communication, conduct or gesture which causes a reasonable apprehension of physical harm to self, others or property.

The Faculty Senate will soon vote on the interim Policy on Disruptive Behavior in an Instructional Setting, which calls for documentation of disruptive students with the Dean of Students office.

One student said that he supports initiatives in crisis prevention and preparation, although he worries about their effectiveness.

"It makes me feel safer, but it depends on how seriously they take it. At first they'll take it very seriously, but over time they'll probably begin to disregard what doesn't fall into patterns of what they think is a threat," said Hugo Casahonda, an electrical engineering junior.

Nathan King, a graduate student in landscape architecture, doubts the UA's ability to prevent a major crisis

"If something's going to happen, there's not a lot the university can do to stop it. It'll only be able to remedy it after the fact," King said.

King also thinks that money the university is investing into emergency response could be better spent elsewhere.

"They'll be able to find money if a crisis happens. They could be this putting money in other places that they have a lot more control over," King said.