Chronicle 17-18 Issue 08

Campus chronicle.durhamcollege.ca March 6 - 12, 2018 The Chronicle 3
UOIT gets new president
Austin Andru
The Chronicle
The new president of the University
of Ontario Institute of Technology
wants to ensure the final
word in the school’s name continues
to be its focus.
The board of governors chose
Dr. Steven Murphy to replace Dr.
Tim McTiernan, who has served
for the last six years. Murphy officially
took office on March 1.
Murphy says he sees himself
as a mentor and a coach for the
university and wants to make sure
technology is being utilized in all
programs.
“I’d like to see us accelerate in
terms of how every faculty views
what they’re doing in a lens of
technology,” says Murphy. “We
really should be producing the
best teachers who are able to use
the latest technologies.”
Murphy has spent the last
four years as the dean of the Ted
Rogers School of Management at
Ryerson University and five years
as an associate professor at Carleton
University. Murphy has published
more than 100 academic
papers.
Murphy says after talking to
students and alumni, many of
them indicated the one-on-one
experience with the professors is a
Dr. Steven Murphy, the new president of UOIT, took office March 1.
major strength for the university.
“I think that’s a huge strength,”
says Murphy. “We have to make
sure we preserve it.”
UOIT’s campus partner is
hoping to build his one-on-one relationship
with Murphy.
“Anytime somebody new
comes, they come with an energy
and a vision and I look forward to
seeing where he wants to take the
university and how we can be a
Photograph by Austin Andru
part of it,” says Don Lovisa, president
of DC. “I’ve worked with
two presidents now—this will be
my third one. And they’re all different.”
"Steven has a great track record
at Ryerson,” says Lovisa.
Murphy says the greatest challenge
facing students is how to
positively use social media.
He says older students have
the maturity to understand what
people put on social media is just
a “snapshot” of their life that
they’ve chosen to show, younger
students don’t realize this.
Murphy says some younger
students see what others are doing
on social media and think to
themselves, “Geez, my life isn’t
like that.”
Murphy says going forward it is
important for faculty to talk about
the benefits of social media, but
also the negative aspects of it.
Murphy says when he was a
student things were different.
“Sure there was expectations
in my life but I didn’t have to
worry about social media on top
of things.”
Murphy says young people are
often pressured too early. Murphy
says not enough people are saying
to young people, “it’s OK.”
“You can learn and you can
fail,” says Murphy.
“You’re going to have many
jobs and you’re going to be able
to pivot many times, and you can
take many different degrees and
you don’t have to know everything
at 18.”
DC, UOIT campuses:
Are we in any danger?
Cassidy McMullen
The Chronicle
With the recent high school shooting
in Parkland, Florida, where
17 people were killed, it begs the
question – how safe are the Durham
College-UOIT campuses?
The director of campus safety
at Durham and UOIT suggests
people are more likely to be hit
by lightning than to face a violent
incident like the shootings at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
School.
“The FBI has suggested that,
and this includes schools in the
States, an individual is more than
likely to be struck by lightning
twice before they would be involved
in an active threat on campus,”
says Tom Lynch, who has
been responsible for campus safety
for the past six years.
According to CBC News, Canada
has had 12 deadly school
shootings since 1965.
America has had 18 school
shooting this year as of Feb. 20
with 10 resulting in injury or
death.
Last year there was a reported
65 school shootings says Everytown
for Gun Safety, a gun safety
organization in the United States.
“We have a risk register at the
campus of safety, things that from
a very imperial standpoint we are
at risk at,” Lynch says. “Active
threat shooter isn’t even on the
front page, and these are scientific,
imperial studies, a plane missing
Oshawa airport (and crashing on
campus) is higher on the list.”
If there was an active threat,
someone posing a danger to the
campus, we would go into lockdown,
says Lynch, who spoke
about campus threats to Durham
College journalism students recently.
Lynch answered questions on
the subject of lockdowns and what
to do in the case of one.
What is a lockdown?
A lockdown is a planned response
to an active threat. In the
event of an active threat, the campus
would be put into a lockdown
which means services and activity
on campus would stop while students
and faculty find a safe place
to wait for police to respond.
How will we be alerted?
An announcement would come
over the public address system
(PA), along with the electronic displays
around campus and an exterior
alarm would sound alerting
anyone in or around the building
of the lockdown.
An alert would also be visible
on the DC’s and UOIT’s website
and it would be posted on the
schools’ social media platforms.
What do we do in a lockdown?
In the event of a lockdown, you
have two options - hide or leave.
“Never discount the opportunity
to leave,” Lynch says. “You
have a lot of exits here.”
If you are close to an exit and
do not see or hear any disturbances,
it might be better to leave
the campus altogether. If you
aren’t, it’s time to hide.
“We want to make time and
distance away from the active
threat,” Lynch says.
If it takes police six minutes
to respond to an active threat,
Lynch says, then you want to put
that amount or more of that time
or distance between you and the
active threat.
For example, if you move from
The Pit, if that was the location
of an active threat, and go to a
classroom you have put distance
between you and the threat.
Another example would be
when you are in the classroom
you lock or barricade the door like
campus security suggests. There is
not more distance, but an obstacle
that will take more time for the
threat to get through, Lynch says.
Campus security also suggests
finding a room with few windows.
If there are any windows in
the room, cover them if you can or
hide where you wouldn’t be visible
through them. Turn off the lights
as well.
In the event of a lockdown, turn
your phone on to silent. If you are
going to be communicating with
someone, message or text them.
Should I plan beforehand?
Lynch says while having a plan
in mind is fine, “the plan needs to
be fluid.”
While you’re in your classrooms
or work environment on
campus, it’s good to think about
what you might do in a lockdown
situation.
However, that might not be
where you are if a lockdown is
called, Lynch points out.
“Let’s try this, you’re in line
at the Tim Hortons where I see
you all the time and they go lockdown,”
Lynch says. “What’s your
plan?”
Having one set plan doesn’t
work in these situations because
the individual causing the threat
is going to have a fluid plan, just
like you.
“We cannot create a response
because the active threat is a human
and humans adapt to what
Photograph by Cassidy McMullen
Tom Lynch is responsible for campus safety at DC and UOIT.
we do,” Lynch says.
The best way to prepare is to
observe your surroundings. Keep
in mind where exits are, if doors
lock and where they are located.
“If you understand your environment,
you’re already a step
ahead,” Lynch says.
Is an active threat likely?
The north Oshawa campus
of DC and UOIT has had lockdowns
called before.The most recent
was in 2015, where someone
had brought a replica weapon to
campus.
“I believe I have been involved
in instances that had a potential to
put my community at risk, three
times,” Lynch says, recalling his
six years on campus. “And none of
come into fruition.”