A candlelight vigil was held days after September 11 tocommemorate the victims of the terrorist attacks, and hundreds gathered nearthe SAC to listen to Stony Brook University President Shirley Strum Kenny offerwords of solace. It wasn’t long before a woman passed out in the crowd,and emergency personal had to respond.

‘?It must have taken twenty minutes for them to get toher,’ said senior Jeff Avila. ‘?I’m surprised things turnedout well in the end given those circumstances.’

Emergency personal said they are now better prepared to dealwith such calls for assistance.

‘?[University Police] and Suffolk county are betterprepared to respond in mass to any impending campus wide event,’ saidRichard Young, Chief of University Police. ‘?It’s a morecoordinated effort.’

Young said changes have come about with the establishment ofEmergency Operations Center (EOC) at Stony Brook, which addresses difficultiesarising from ‘?hurricanes, snow storms, fires or terrorist acts.’In such an event, a team of firefighters, ambulance corps, the policedepartment, environmental health and safety personnel and physical plantpersonnel will directly communicate with one another through EOC’sCommand Center. With Stony Brook’s recent snowstorm and the elevatedU.S. terrorist alert, the EOC has gone through a series of drills.

‘?We’ve stepped up random check points, patrolsof truck loading zones and hospital laboratories,’ Young said. As astate agency, Young said the EOC has a ‘?direct hook-up’ to theDepartment of Homeland Security.

‘?We get all the briefings and bulletins that otherdepartments get, and are alerted to significant dates or people we should be onthe lookout for,’ he explained. Currently, Stony Brook is at a Team SituationLevel 2, or Code Orange. (See box for explanations of Situation Levels.)

Tom Ridge, the Director of Homeland Security has establishedCode Orange alert for the nation, signifying that our nation is at high riskfor terrorist attacks.

But Young stressed, ‘?There is no credible informationthat Stony Brook or any part of Suffolk County is a target for terror.’

The EOC asked that people be aware of suspicious activity,but that they not overreact. ‘?Buying duct tape, dog tags, we don’trecommend these things,’ Young said. ‘?We saw this kind ofover-reaction during the cold war, and the EOC has reasonable steps that peopleshould make to prepare for any potential emergency.’

Should Stony Brook be the site of an emergency situation,Level 3 would go into effect-equivalent to a national code red-andemergency personal would go on 24 hour shifts and respond accordingly. Anincident commander would be established as the person to handle the emergencyand coordinate all the other departments. Information during a crisis isreleased on the Stony Brook webpage, campus cable and radio stations (90.1FM)and on outside news sources such as TV News 12, WBLI 106.1FM, WCBS 880AM andothers.

Doug Little, Deputy Chief of Police and co-coordinator ofthe EOC, had more to say on Stony Brook’s current Level 2 emergencystatus.

‘?We’re in a different world since 9/11,’he said. ‘?A lot of the steps we’re taking to prevent terrorismaren’t going away. Some of the precautions you will see, others youwon’t.’

Cameras, spot checks and unmarked policemen are just some ofthe measures the department has taken.

Little said he wanted to emphasize that the spot checks werenot ‘?Big Brother looking out for students.’ He said investigationshave led to some important discoveries.

‘?Often, we find people coming on campus with nobusiness here. Other times we’ve had trucks come in making certainviolations, blocking loading docks or not having proper permits. Because ofthese checks, we have been better able to address these issues,’ Littlesaid. ‘?We also want to let everyone on campus know we’re lookingout for them.’

In response to the privacy issue, Little explained thatthere were no cameras in the residence halls or restrooms. Little concededthat the department has gotten a lot of complaints regarding its new securityprecautions, particularly concerning the 24-hour main entrance guard. But healso noted that there have been plenty of compliments.

‘?[Students] tell me, ‘Thanks, I wish these kindof precautions were being taken in my neighborhood,” Little said.

To report and suspicious activity call the University Policeat 333, 911 from a campus phone or (631) 632-3333 off campus.

More information on community preparedness for emergenciescan be retrieved at http://stonybrook.edu/sb/emergency.

‘

Emergency Management Team Situation Levels

Level 1 (‘Yellow’) – Minor Emergency: A minor emergency that requiresthe response by on-site resources such as University Police, EnvironmentalHealth and Safety, or Physical Plant. Example: A small fire or chemicalspill contained to a single room; an unplanned utility service interruption,such as a water break of electrical outage.

Level 2 (‘Orange’) – A Major Emergency requires activation of the IncidentCommand System (ICS) and the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) to mobilize andcoordinate campus resources. Additional assistance from other organizations,such as the Suffolk County Police or Setauket Fire Department may be necessary.Example: A situation that extends beyond a single room or area, such as a largefire that spreads; a motor vehicle accident involving more than 10 people; oran unplanned utility service outage that impacts multiple campus buildings.

Level 3 (‘Red’) – A campus-wide emergency causing, or having thepotential to cause, widespread damage, injuries, or curtailment of operations. Example:A major fire that involves an entire and/or multiple buildings, or results ininjury to more than 10 persons.