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Some are skeptical that the UTEP community is prepared in case of another incident like that of the March 26 bomb threat.
The UTEP Emergency Management Plan remains unchanged. The cover page of the document displays a notice that it was last revised October 2008.
“With all the construction going on as well, I believe it is hard to tell,” said Daniel Rodriguez, senior mechanical engineering major. “It’s rare to see any campus police during the day inside the campus. I don’t think anything has been added to secure the campus from any kind of security threat.”
The “bomb threat” tab of the UTEP Department of Emergency management leads to a dead link on the site.
“The culture hasn’t changed, it seems to have stayed the same,” Rodriguez said.
Publicly available guides such as the Student Affairs: Safety of Students Incident Levels and the UTEP Emergency Management Plan contain some contradictory information.
The emergency plan refers to a bomb threat as a minor incident, but the student affairs guide rates the event as a level 3 incident, the highest level of campus emergency.
Repeated requests for comment from University Police were not responded to.
However, other community members are indifferent or positive about the campus response.
“I don’t feel different at all,” said Alex Arenivar, senior criminal justice major. “I’m surprised the Miner Alert system and campus police acted quickly and calmly. For that type of situation, I can rely on them if the danger ever becomes real.”
This attitude seems to have carried over to new students.
“As a transfer student, I feel very safe,” said Michael Sigler, junior early childhood education major. “Security is excellent.”
Links to the emergency plan and student affairs guide can be found at theprospectordaily.com.
S. David Ramirez may be reached at [email protected].
