Seismic safety needs aid

What happens when the people who are trained to maintain the
public’s health are themselves at risk because the building
they work and learn in is deemed seismically unsafe?

There had been speculation that the School of Public Health,
located in the Center for Health Sciences building, is seismically
unsafe, but no real action had been taken to look further into the
situation. This summer, faculty formed the Seismic Safety Faculty
Committee to look into the status of our building, and what they
found was truly horrifying.

Various evaluations have led to concern over the safety of the
School of Public Health building. The building is rated “Very
Poor,” which describes a structure anticipated to have
“extensive structural and nonstructural damage, potential
structural collapse, and/or falling hazards that would represent
high life hazards” during a “major seismic
disturbance.”

Since 1978, there have been 34 earthquakes of a magnitude 4.5 or
higher in Southern California, six of which have been above 6.5. A
“major seismic disturbance” is comparable to an
earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 to 6.9.

According to UC policy, a structure with this “Very
Poor” rating “would be given the highest priority for
expenditures to improve” either the building’s seismic
resistance and reduce hazards so the building could be reclassified
as “Good,” or be considered for abatement programs such
as reduction of occupancy .

Yet the School of Public Health building is not listed on
UCLA’s Web site for short- or long-term action, nor is a
replacement building listed on UCLA’s list of
pre-construction projects.

The lack of action by UCLA’s administration to address
this life-threatening issue is alarming, as the UC Seismic Safety
policy clearly states that when a building has this rating,
“the responsible official shall immediately consider
alternatives to undiminished continued use and occupancy …
including total or partial evacuation, temporary emergency
measures, reductions in use, reconstruction or combinations of
these alternatives” and take appropriate action. The
officials responsible are the chancellor and senior vice president
of business and finance, among others.

Recently, the students in the School of Public Health have
formed a Student Seismic Safety Committee to work with the Faculty
Committee so that we have a united front on this issue. The
students have recently started a petition to have classes moved to
another building for the winter quarter, because the short-term
goal is to move all faculty, staff and students into a seismically
safe building until the long-term goal of constructing a new
building is realized. In addition, there is another student
petition pending that addresses concerns to the Graduate Student
Association to get them on board as well.

If this situation is not addressed soon, a portion of the next
generation of public health professionals could potentially be lost
in the case of an earthquake, which could cause extensive damage
and/or the building to collapse.

Remember, the Army Corps of Engineers took the cheaper way out
in building a levee system in New Orleans that could only withstand
a Level 3 hurricane, and look how much more it has cost them
now.

The same scenario could be applied to UCLA and the UC system if
they don’t choose to address this situation now. Please stand
up for the health and safety of your fellow faculty, staff and
students and aid them in their fight for a safe learning and
working environment.

Fisher and Hopkins are both master’s degree students
in the School of Public Health.