By SUSAN JONES
Pedestrian safety, possible uses of the Twentieth Century Club and AED availability on campus were all covered during the Dec. 12 Campus Utilization, Planning and Safety committee meeting.
Aurora Sharrard, Pitt’s executive director of sustainability, also gave an update on the University’s sustainability efforts. Look for more on that report in January in the University Times, when Sharrard said they will be releasing the latest report on greenhouse gas emissions.
Twentieth Century Club and more
Carolyn Verga, assistant vice chancellor for campus planning, said her office is working on an initial study of student union space programming needs on the Pittsburgh campus, including extracurricular activities, events, study spaces and support services. The work is looking at how the William Pitt Union, as well as the O’Hara Student Center and potentially the Twentieth Century Club building, can be better utilized.
Pitt has hired WTW Architects of Pittsburgh to look at “what’s the best use of those facilities and how they might work with student-focused programs,” Verga said.
The project will focus on ways to further strengthen community and engagement while integrating sustainability features. This discovery phase will gather input from students, faculty, staff and visitors, including focus groups and open forums. Feedback also can be sent to Verga at CMV64@pitt.edu. The analysis is set to be completed by August 2024.
At last month’s committee meeting, student representative Braydan Issermoyer said the Student Government Board had discussions with Dean of Students Carla Panzella about how Pitt is “one of few universities in the country that has a large administrative office in their student union. One possibility that was raised was actually moving the seventh floor offices (Office of the Vice Provost and Dean of Students) outside of the union and into the Twentieth Century Club to provide for more student space in the union.”
Pitt purchased the Twentieth Century Club building at 4201 Bigelow Blvd. in March 2020 for $4.95 million, but has yet to put the building to use.
Irene Frieze, a pro tem member of the committee and professor emeritus in psychology, questioned why the study was focusing so much on student spaces. “I’m just wondering why you didn’t consider other possibilities, like faculty use, for example? … I hear a lot of faculty complaints that we keep building more and more students space, but we need labs, we need space for faculty and that’s not getting done.”
“I think that’s on the table,” Verga said. “But the majority of the focus are the student organizations that sort of fill up the student union today. It’s certainly open ended at this point.”
Pedestrian safety
The accident that killed a woman crossing Terrace Street near Scaife Hall on Nov. 29 (see related story) has again raised questions about pedestrian safety on campus.
“That is an important aspect of safety on our campus because we have an urban campus that is completely inseparable from city streets and sidewalks and crosswalks,” said David Salcido, committee co-chair.
Molly Stitt-Fischer, director of Environmental Health & Safety, said this issue is “on Public Safety and Emergency Management’s high priority list, as it should be.”
She said that last week Pitt Police and other public safety personnel handed out hot chocolate packets and pedestrian safety tips outside Soldiers & Sailors and Posvar garages and at crosswalks on Forbes and Fifth avenues.
There is a pedestrian safety video on the Public Safety & Emergency Management website that anyone can watch. Stitt-Fischer said she’s been at Pitt 13 years and there were some things on the video that she didn’t know. She said they also have some more pedestrian safety awareness activities planned for next semester.
LaMonica Wiggins, committee co-chair and entrepreneurship librarian, said she’s concerned about all the people — students, faculty and staff — who are crossing outside of the crosswalk on Forbes Avenue near Hillman Library, because of the library construction that blocks part of the sidewalk.
Stitt-Fischer said this is a complaint they’ve been hearing frequently and they continue to add signs directing people to the crosswalk. “We recognize, just like everywhere else on campus, it can be really frustrating when you know you want to just get right across the street but you have to walk half a block to use a crosswalk. It’s really important though, for your own safety, to do that.”
AED distribution
Salcido, who is an assistant professor of emergency medicine, continued the discussion from last month’s meeting about automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) on campus.
A map on the Public Safety & Emergency Management website shows which buildings have AEDs, and Salcido was surprised to learn that several don’t have the devices, including Chevron Science Center, the Old Engineering building, the Langley complex and Eberly, Thaw and Allen halls.
Students also have expressed concerns that some AEDs in residence halls are missing or are inaccessible to students, such as the one in the Perch at Sutherland Hall, which is behind locked doors after hours.
Stitt-Fischer said while having AEDs in buildings can be reassuring, the first priority — which is even listed inside the AEDs — is to call first responders, like Pitt Police. She said that Pitt Police carry AEDs and can respond to almost any location on campus in two minutes. She believes Pitt Police officers are the only people who have actually used AEDs on campus. In one case, a bystander called Pitt Police then went to get the AED and by the time he got back to the person in distress, the police were already there.
If a department or school or other office wants to advocate for an AED at their location, Stitt-Fischer said they are happy to work with them.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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