Brian White has a pretty good excuse for missing yesterday's psychology class.
After taking a shortcut through the back door of the Cesar E. Chavez building on his way to the Center for English as a Second Language building, he was stopped by a police officer who told him he might be contaminated with a dangerous chemical or biological substance.
He looked around and saw the entire area between the buildings surrounded by yellow caution tape. That's when he realized that he had unwittingly walked into the UAPD disaster drill.
"(The officer) told me that I was part of a crime scene, and he didn't want to touch me because he didn't want to get contaminated," said White, a veterinary science junior. "I knew there was something going on somewhere on campus, so I played along with it."
He was detained for about a half hour and was sent through a Hazmat decontamination tent positioned outside the Communication building.
"It wasn't that bad," he said. "I guess I'll find out Thursday if class was canceled."
Around 9 a.m. yesterday, the disaster drill was set into motion when somebody called 911 to report an unconscious student in the Communication building.
For the next three hours, UAPD, Tucson police, and other safety officials practiced their response to university-related disaster scenarios.
After police and emergency crews arrived at the scene, an envelope filled with a white powdery substance was delivered to the building.
Shortly after that, the police radios rang out with a report that a bomb was found inside the building.
As each scenario played out, the size of the crime area expanded.
The caution tape surrounding the Communication and CESL buildings was moved out to the flagpole when the Hazmat crew entered the area. When the Tucson Police Department Bomb Squad arrived, the crime scene had extended to the Social Sciences building.
The purpose of the drill was to improve the communication between Tucson emergency agencies while providing them with an opportunity to sharpen their skills.
Students, faculty and staff watched as UAPD officers barked orders to the group of student role players who ran out of the building yelling about their dead classmate.
The police and students were even met with nosey, fictitious members of the press, who were quickly ushered beyond the caution tape surrounding the building.
Despite some minor distractions, the event went well, said UAPD Cmdr. Brian Seastone, the disaster drill coordinator.
"It was an absolutely resounding success," he said. "We met every one of our goals."
The day started off with an unplanned glitch when a charter bus temporarily blocked East University Boulevard directly in front of the Communication building.
The first responding police officers were forced to wait until the bus passed by.
Later, Tucson Fire Department officials had to find the keys to a security vehicle that was parked in the side access route in front of Old Main.
The vehicle was preventing the Hazmat crew from getting to the scene so that they could set up a decontamination tent.
But these few problems did not overshadow an effective drill and will give UAPD something to work on in the future, Seastone said.
"The biggest distractions were little things," he said. "The pickup truck was in the way and people were walking into the taped off area, those kind of things were distractions. But from these distractions we can learn and think about it for the future, like if we can contain the situation better."
Journalism junior Alex Chihak came out to witness the disaster drill just after his 8 a.m. class let out. He eventually found himself deep within the decontamination zone as layers of caution tape were added around the area.
Armed with a camera, Chihak got a good look at how emergency crews and police deal with disasters.
"It looked fairly real," he said. "I don't think they'd have all these people in there if it were real, but for the most part, it looks pretty good."
Reality was something that UAPD was shooting for, Seastone said.
"It was very realistic," he said. "People that responded really acted as if it was real. Of course there were some things we would have to change in a real event, like evacuate a larger area."
While the crime scene only encompassed two buildings and the area between the Communication and Social Sciences buildings, members of the UA administration and Dean of Students offices were also involved.
Under the guise of a CNN reporter, Seastone called UA spokeswoman Sharon Kha a number of times, requesting information on the activities.
"It was important to know how the other agencies work in the event of a real emergency," Kha said.
Seastone said the Dean of Students office provided information on the fictitious students involved in the event. All information was provided just prior to the event, Seastone said.
Monica McCahill, a junior majoring in Spanish, played the part of a student who walked into the Campus Health Center claiming that she may have been contaminated.
She said personnel handled themselves in a professional manner.
"They were very calm when we came in," she said, adding that her role in the drill helped her appreciate the work of emergency personnel.
UAPD budgeted $4,000 for the event, but Seastone said he does not know how much was actually used. He hopes the department will be reimbursed with state and federal funds.