As of 3:25 PM PST, 9/11/01
By Michaele Turnage
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
In light of the attack on the East Coast, all University of
California campuses will remain open. Whether classes will be held
is at each professor’s discretion.
“We are making every effort to ensure the security of our
students, staff and faculty at all campuses, medical centers,
national laboratories and Education Abroad centers,” said UC
president Richard C. Atkinson in a statement.
However, the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos national
laboratories ““ which are managed by the University of
California for the Department of Energy ““ have been closed
for the day. Normal operations are expected to reconvene
tomorrow.
“All nonessential employees have been sent home as a
precautionary measure because we are a national security
laboratory,” said Anne Stark, a public information officer at
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The U.S. Department of Energy headquarters released all
employees for precautionary measures, although it was at the
discretion of each individual lab whether they would release their
nonessential employees. In addition, all DOE sites are at
heightened security levels and the national headquarters are
constantly in contact with their field offices.
Although some classes at UC schools are in session, all classes
at the California State University have been cancelled for the
day.
“The governor sent down a directive this morning about
security concerns, and he has directed all state office buildings
and facilities to be closed. The CSU chancellor talked about it
with the CSU presidents and trustees and for safety concerns
decided it was best to cancel classes today,” said Colleen
Bentley-Adler, director of public affairs for the CSU
chancellor’s office.
Whether classes will be back in session at CSU campuses tomorrow
will be decided by each individual campus.
In addition, this week’s CSU Board of Trustee’s
meeting has been cancelled.
This week’s Board of Regents meeting has been cancelled as
well. Most of the regents were planning to fly in for the meeting
today, but cannot do so since all flights have been cancelled.
“The country is in the midst of a national tragedy and we
cannot just continue with business as usual,” said Charles
McFadden, a spokesman for the UC Office of the President.
Other regents expressed similar sentiments.
“I’m in shock,” said Tracy Davis, who is
serving as 2001-2002 student-regent. “I wonder how this could
have happened in the United States. How did they get so close to
us? My thoughts go out to the families of people in New York and
Washington.”
With reports from Maegan Carberry, Daily Bruin senior staff.