FREDRICK MISLEH
STAFF WRITER

In early December 2011, the website StateUniversity.com ranked CSUSM as the safest four-year university in California. However, this ranking only extends to campus security. The integrity of our elevators is a different matter.

Six of our elevators have expired permits: car number three in the parking structure (a temporary permit that expired on March 17, 2011), car number 2 in Markstein Hall (Oct. 1, 2011), both elevators in the Social and Behavioral Sciences Building (both temporary permits, expired March 28, 2011 and April 1, 2011), the Arts Building elevator (Sept. 30, 2011) and the D-building elevator in the UVA (July 29, 2011, with a temporary permit being issued on Dec. 9, 2011, that has a pending expiration date).

Many students reported this made them feel unsafe at school. One student, a first-year student who wished not to be identified, said, “It’s a huge misnomer considering you have the safety of all your students going up and down the elevator, and it’s just a simple thing mak- ing sure your tags are up-to-date.”

Katie Gonzalez, fourth-year Human Development major, likened the permits in the elevators to registration tags on automobiles, “If your registration is out of date, you cannot drive. Therefore, if the elevators are out of date, they should not be operable.”

Regina Frasca, head of Risk Management at CSUSM, acknowledged the expired permits, yet asserted students and staff were safe when riding the elevators: “The state inspectors who have the power to issue new permits are few and far between. So when we aren’t able to schedule them, we have our own inspection teams to ensure the safety and the integrity of our conveyances. They do not have the authority to issue new permits, however.”

Frasca also added a key word of advice to all elevator riders. “If the elevators ever do stop working and you are stuck in one of them, please do not try to get yourself out. Stay in the elevator and use the elevator’s hotline to the service center and we will come to you. That way, we can all avoid a repeat of the tragic incident at CSU Long Beach,” referring to an incident in Dec. 2011 when an employee of CSULB got stuck in an elevator and attempted to climb out. The elevator began to move again, trapping and killing the employee under 2,000 pounds of machinery.

For more information on elevator safety, readers can contact Regina Frasca at 760-750-4502 or at [email protected].