ASC president appreciates campus and community efforts during water problem (04-07-08)
Today's college administrators are keenly aware of the disasters that could impact their campuses. In fact, Adams State and local emergency agencies staged a mock-shooter drill last fall in order to test our response procedures.
With snowpack in the San Juans at an all-time high, Adams State had been planning for potential flooding, when, ironically, the lack of water became an issue. But ASC's incident management team quickly mobilized and alerted the campus when the city's water supply recently became unsafe to drink. We used our new text-message alert system, as well as email and the web to spread the word.
Within an hour of the bottled water advisory being issued, Adams State's food service was converted to a safe water supply. I especially want to thank Chef Charles Maloney of Sodexho, and ASC Auxiliary Services' Bruce DelTondo and Stephanie Lewis for their quick actions. Dinner was served on schedule that evening, and the State Department of Public Health and Environment gave its stamp of approval. DelTondo and the Residence Life staff, among many others, worked tirelessly through the weekend to address student needs and provide safe water.
Teri McCartney, Ken Marquez, Joel Shults and the rest of the college's Incident Management Team did a great job dealing with the situation and keeping the campus informed. Staff in Public Safety, Facilities Services, and Communications also went above and beyond. Everyone on campus handled this inconvenience calmly and professionally. Our students proved resilient, as well, and I appreciate their cooperation and patience.
We owe much to the county's Emergency Operations Center staff, the City of Alamosa, and all of the outside experts and volunteers who came to Alamosa's aid. Jack and Bev Mozetti were extremely generous in opening the Comfort Inn to students and community members for showers from their artisian well. Thanks also to Steve Valdez and City Market for providing sanitizer and water jugs to Adams State.
With Earth Week approaching, perhaps it's fitting that moving through this alarming event has given us all a greater appreciation of the earth's most essential resource: water.
Sincerely,
Dr. David Svaldi
President, Adams State College