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NEWS
March 24, 2011
Taking a look at safety Potholes create problems for drivers around UP Philippe Boutros Staff Writer boutros14@up.edu
Will Lyons Staff Writer lyons14@up.edu
“I didn’t mean to freak you out,” said a threatening man on the UP side of Willamette Boulevard while psychology professor Deana Julka was walking home from teaching her senior seminar class on Feb. 28. This individual followed Julka for about three blocks after she crossed the street to avoid him. Eventually, Julka had to walk into traffic in order to get in the light of passing cars to thwart the individual’s advances. “Once the headlights were on him, he put this thing into the back of his pants,” Julka said. Now knowing if the man had a weapon of some sort, she walked in the street with the lights of the car for a few blocks before running the last half block back to her house. “It was definitely frightening,” Julka said. “I’ve been living in the neighborhood for 14 years and things like this happen.” Despite the close call, Julka remains positive. “I still do feel safe here,” Julka said. “I wouldn’t live here with my family if I didn’t.” Incidents like what happened to Julka periodically call into question the safety of the University Park neighborhood. UP offers services to help
Deana Julka students proactively stay safe. Public Safety holds a women’s self defense class in Mehling Hall at the beginning of each semester. Students are encouraged to call Public Safety for an escort if they find themselves in an unwanted situation, and Public Safety Director Harold Burke-Sivers helps those who live off campus to protect their apartments and rented houses. “I do written safety evaluations,” Burke-Sivers said. “Most of the evaluations I do aren’t university-owned houses.” The best way to avoid dangerous situations might be paying attention. “I don’t want people to stay in the halls because they are concerned about off campus safety, but students do need to be aware of the risks around,” Mehling Hall Director Holly Allar said.
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“I jog without earbuds in, in order to be aware of my surroundings,” Julka said. “I carry pepper spray in my purse just in case,” sophomore Hannah Kintner said. “Let people know if you’re going out alone,” Director of Public Safety Harold Burke Sivers said. “Walk with your car keys in your hands. They can be a good weapon in a pinch,” Mehling Hall Director Holly Allar said.
Will Lyons | THE BEACON
Photos by Alissa White| THE BEACON
cost a little over $100,000, and they would try to get it done this summer if funding is available. “When it comes to funding priorities on campus, it’s buildings first, then utilities, and then asphalt comes last,” Haines said. “But things have been looking pretty good money-wise recently.” Due to recent construction work at The Bauccio Commons and The Chapel of Christ the Teacher, the road leading there is also in need of repair.
Error: cannot connect to server Rosemary Peters Editor-in-Chief peters12@up.edu
Safety ideas for all: •
The University of Portland’s Physical Plant recently repaired some of the potholes in the main parking lot behind the Pilot House, but they are only temporary fixes, due to budget restraints. “We fixed them as best we can,” Assistant Director of Physical Plant Faye Beeler said. The potholes affect many UP students, faculty and employees as well as visitors to the campus. “I’m glad they did something about it,” freshman Zachary Hyrndej said. “I had started to know by heart which parts of the parking lot were the bumpiest. It was getting pretty bad since the beginning of the semester.” After rainfall, potholes tend to form when the water disrupts the base material under the surface asphalt, creating a void. The asphalt can no longer support the weight of traffic and potholes develop. Apart from causing an uncomfortable ride, severe potholes have the potential to damage cars. “Some student bent her rim and flattened her tire because of a pothole many years ago,” Jim Haines, the sports fields maintenance manager, said.
“When you drove across it you could feel it in your teeth,” Haines said. “This sounds silly, but I tripped because of a pothole once on my way back from Villa,” freshman Katy Stevens said. Physical Plant temporarily repaired the potholes by filling them in with asphalt. However, this treats only the symptoms, not the problem. The real problem comes from how the parking lot was originally constructed, according to Haines. “The main parking lot was built in the early 40s, when standards were lower,” Haines said. “They just scraped the ground and put the gravel on it. People were used to the rattling because they were driving Model T’s and stuff.” Facilities and Construction Director Paul Luty told Haines that re-paving the unfinished section of the parking lot would
On March 9, around 9 p.m., the University of Portland’s server experienced technical difficulties and was inaccessible for approximately three hours. UP Systems Administrator Ming Qi was the technical support staffer on call that night. He received the phone call from Public Safety that the server was down. “There were two servers with all the files on them,” Qi said. “One server was having problems, and we had to move the files to a different server.” According to Qi, two servers are clustered together so that one is a backup for the other. Paul Disbury, director of Information Technology, says that when the first server fails it is supposed to “fail over” to a secondary server, which is supposed to work in conjunction with the primary server to access the storage unit. None of this is supposed to be noticed by the user on the other end of the computer.
However, the access problem occurred when the first server failed over to the secondary drive. Technical Support was aware of the server’s age, and the department has been in the process of moving files over to a new enterprise class storage device called Netapp. “My goal is to completely decommission the Left Hand (the current main storage unit) within a few weeks,” Disbury said. “I want to keep the Left Hand as a sand box to play in.” In light of the recent accessibility issues, Disbury has sped up the estimated timeline for getting the new storage device up and running and to make sure all critical data is moved over to the new server. Currently, Disbury’s technical group is in the process of moving over the U drive, which is the drive for faculty and administration. “We should have the U drive moved over after the end of the weekend,” Disbury said. The P drive, where all of the students’ files are located, will be the next drive to migrate over to the new server. Completing this move should take about three weeks.
The UP Public Safety Report 1. March 11, 12:44 p.m. - A student reported an assault. Portland Police Bureau and Public Safety continuing investigation.
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2. March 14, 11:19 p.m. - Public Safety responded to a noise complaint about a house in the 6400 block of N. Willamette. The renters were compliant, and they kept the noise down.
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3. March 15, 7:24 a.m. - A student reported a theft from his vehicle parked in front of a University-owned house in the 5300 block of N. Willamette. The student was advised to come to Public Safety, and a report was also filed with PPB. 4. March 16, 3:16 a.m. - Public Safety contacted a suspicious person near the Chiles Center. The person stated he was picking up cigarette butts. He left the campus without any confrontation.
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5. March 18, 1:10 p.m. - Public Safety responded to a medical call at the Bauccio Commons. A prospective student fell and turned his knee the wrong way. He was provided an ice pack and a knee wrap. No other medical action was taken.