It was decided in a CSUS Spring 2001 Plan for Rolling Blackouts, that building captains, who may or may not be trained in an emergency situation, would be in charge of assisting those with special needs out of a university building, during a power crisis.

“Be aware, and if you are in trouble, there are building captains for each building that will assist and help others who are disabled,” said Frank Whitlatch, assistant news director of Public Affairs.

Whitlatch said that each building is assigned an administrative faculty member and that this administrative employee is in charge of assisting everyone out of the building. “There are one to five building captains assigned to each building on campus,” said Ann Reed, director of Public Affairs. Reed is not sure if the building captains are trained in an emergency situation. Reed said that if they are not trained, that training is available.

Val Smith, Chairman of Communications Studies, has been assigned building captain for Mendocino Hall. Smith said that if there was a blackout and a disabled person was stuck on the fifth floor, he would just call the police.

The university has backup generators for emergency equipment, said FrankAyron, an electrician with Facilities Management. But the emergency generators are only for the phones, fire alarms and emergency lighting and nothing for the elevators. This would leave the disabled to rely heavily on the building captains to help get them out.

There are currently 675 disabled students on campus and each building has one to five building captains assigned during a rolling blackout. The captains organize the exiting of all students to safety and provide assistance to the disabled in the stairwells.

Shirley Uplinger, Vice President of Student Affairs, failed to make any comment regarding building captains and their training experience.

“If the building captains are not efficient, I could see something like a university blackout turn disastrous for those who are disabled,” said Trish James, a third year business major. James, who was in a car accident three years ago, was in a wheelchair for two months and understands how disabled students might feel during a blackout.