Shaking It Out
By Marcela Iraheta | Staff Writer
Great ShakeOut drill reveals flaws in the emergency system.
On Oct. 19, Santa Monica College (SMC) participated in the statewide Great ShakeOut. A drill meant to improve readiness in school in the event of an earthquake. The event was scheduled to start at 10:19 a.m. with no alarm to signify the drill at the main campus, yet students and faculty were spotted evacuating buildings earlier.
Students gathered in front of the library and on the lawn even before the drill, chatting and looking at their phones. Others continued to enjoy their meal at the cafeteria. Some took out their laptops and were attempting to continue studying outside. “We basically got kicked out of our classroom pretty early because of the Shakeout, and we wanted to go to the library, but apparently, we can’t,” said SMC student Maya Kedem.
The drill started in 2008 with the purpose of educating people everywhere on earthquake readiness and ensuring emergency systems are functioning. “There’s definitely some things we could work on, but as far as the drill, I think people listened and were willing to do it, which is good.”, stated Vice President of Student Affairs Michael Tuitasi.
The drill was also intended to be tested at The Center of Media and Design (CMD) campus, where it malfunctioned. Students were not alerted until 10:46 a.m. on the PA system that the drill had malfunctioned and was canceled. Chief of Campus Police Johnnie Adams explained, “Our IT is looking into the matter. We did have a glitch in the system. Part of having a drill is to identify these glitches and shortcomings so that we can correct them before a real disaster occurs, and that's what we found out.”
SMC is looking to test the alarm and notification systems regularly. “We plan to implement the devised solution, conduct further testing, and initiate a non-intrusive drill in coordination with campus security personnel within the next few weeks”, Director of IT Calvin Madlock stated.
