President Martinez needs to be alarmed about fire system - Views
As classes started last week, Santa Ana College still did not have a fully functional alarm system. Once again our students and faculty study and work in a facility where there is a potential for disaster.
Since last year when el Don brought the problem to the public’s attention, steps have been taken to fix the dilapidated system, and progress has been made. However, in July, a contractor was hired to bring SAC up to code and into the 21st century was fired before completing the job.
We now have an alarm system that will sound locally in all buildings except for the library, which is again on fire watch.
Nealley Library — housing an abundance of texts, periodicals and valuable documents that assist students in enriching their education — is susceptible to destruction. The fire watch system is dependent on an on duty observer to be present if a fire were to ignite.
Moreover, the now functioning alarms are not connected to campus safety or to the local fire department. In a situation where every second counts we are losing those moments to on some Johnny- on-the-spot to alert higher-ups of a serious problem.
In a year where more than 30,000 students are enrolled and have entrusted their future and safety to this institution, most are unaware of its structural inadequacies. So now we wait and hope for the best.
A project scheduled for completion this summer is now up for bid again. So, we just might have a new contractor by October, work just might begin two weeks later and it could be finished by April 2009. That, however, is a lot of ifs and buts.
We attend this place of higher learning for an education and hope of a better future. All we ask of our president and her staff is to make SAC a safe place. After all, we have been told that SAC is a family.
We urge President Martinez to complete the job quickly and properly as if it were
her own home and her own family were occupying it.
As long as all goes well and the fire alarm system is in place then this administration might be remembered for more than fire alarms. If the unthinkable were to happen they could be branded by a far worse moniker.
