Talking Stick - July/August 2008 - (Page 34)

when PolitiCs Come to Your town phoToS.com Barack Obama addresses the crowd at Keene State. Officer Maria Cino says that they hope to have “the greenest convention in our Party’s history.” Plans include electronic distribution of all communications and use of flexible-fuel and hybrid vehicles. Issues of security are always paramount at such events, even when visits by political figures are brief. Marty Takimoto, director of marketing and communications for the University of California, Berkeley, says, “Although we have not hosted a political convention we have had brief visits from Al Gore, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. They did not require housing or food services because they usually spoke, posed for photo ops, dined at Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse restaurant, and then left.” Though arrangements for housing and food services were not required, campus officials still needed to ensure a safe and secure environment. Security has always been a central concern at political events, but it may be even more critical now, after so many campus shootings and with Viriginia Tech so fresh in our memories. Many colleges and universities have created a campuswide message alert system for emergency response that can instantly send a message via phone voice mail, phone text message, and e-mail. This added degree of safety can facilitate an immediate lock down of housing facilities, which increases the safety of both student residents and visiting guests. One university utilizing the emergency text messaging and emergency response postings is the University of MinnesotaTwin Cities. Kimberly Araya, director of conference and event services, says that a unique security challenge for her campus is that the university actually consists of three different campuses, so coordinating university police with both the city police and fire department is a crucial part of their security plan. Alleviating traffic and parking problems can add significantly to the safety and success of an event. Boykin explains that part of the security plan for William & Mary is dealing with parking problems and road closures. Many campus parking offices are already bombarded with complaints from the resident population about the limited number of parking spots on campus. Closing roads “Providing security for these events to ensure the safety of candidates, participants, and members of our university community is a massive (and expensive) undertaking.” 3 Talking Stick chriS JuSTice/keeNe STATe college

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Talking Stick - July/August 2008 Contents Online Now Vision Just In Your ACUHO-I Transitions Res Life Facilities Business Calendar When Politics Come to Your Town Support System Conversations First Takes Reporting Out New Members Snapshot

Talking Stick - July/August 2008

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