Campus safety reviewed

By Brad Atzinger

Fire safety and the availability of university police officers topped the list of discussion items at a forum hosted by the Governor’s Task Force on Campus Safety on Tuesday night at the University of Louisville.

Held at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, the forum featured about 30 campus, local and state public safety officials, including Metro Louisville Police, the U of L Department of Public Safety and representatives of the State Fire Marshal’s office.

The forum was one of six observed by Ky. Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s task force. The task force is in charge of gathering input from all six forums and reviewing safety policies and procedures at Kentucky universities to produce a report of recommendations for improvements for the governor.

Much of the two hour discussion focused on dormitory fire safety policies. Officials from the State Fire Marshal’s Office said to the group the state office is more than willing to teach fire safety and train students to respond to fires if the university requests it. However, they also said that students and faculty should not attempt to fight fires that cannot be easily controlled and to “let the big boys”-trained fire professionals-“do it.”

Gail Minger, who leads the task force, said students should not only know how to escape in a fire situation but, if necessary, be ready to extinguish fires. Minger’s son died in a dormitory fire at Murray State University in 1998.

Discussion of recent attacks on campus was also brought up. University officials said U of L DPS has added more emergency call stations around the school’s campuses.

Despite efforts by campus officials, state representatives said they need to hear students’ voices in order to address safety concerns. “The most important thing for students is to get out and go to these forums on campuses and make their concerns known,” Nikki Ploskonka of the Governor’s Office of Communication and Public Outreach said.

Tonight, the task force will hold another open forum at Murray State University. Interested persons from public universities and colleges are encouraged to attend.