Today

March 9, 2005

Dear Students:

This is the fourth in our series of regular updates on the implementation of President Brody's security action plan for the Homewood campus, which is available online at webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/today/trinh9.cfm.

Design is progressing on security-related changes at the AMRs. Plans include attractive gates that will funnel residents and guests to check-in points to enter AMR I, AMR II or Buildings A and B. The check-ins will be an outdoor version of what will be required at Wolman and McCoy (see items 11 and 12 in the security action plan). Design will be completed in April and construction will get under way in May. The new system will be operational at the AMRs for the start of the fall semester.

The installation of new hardware to make the blue light emergency phones more reliable (action plan item 7) will be complete by the end of this week.

Installation of the first phase of closed-circuit video surveillance of key on- and off-campus areas continues on schedule. The 32 cameras that comprise the first phase will be operational this spring.

Thursday, March 10, is your first opportunity to volunteer for the Light Up The Night program in area neighborhoods. The idea is to install 2,500 light bulbs so that neighbors can turn on their porch lights, enhancing visibility and safety. Thursday's effort starts at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Mike Treadway at 3026 Abell Avenue. Volunteers will be given bulbs and assignments and can distribute the bulbs on their own schedule. Neighborhood residents will be available to team with JHU students. For information, including additional volunteer times and locations, contact Stacy Cofield in the Office of Community Affairs, at 443-287-9900, or send a message to Commty_Rels@jhu.edu, typing "Light Bulb Volunteer" in the subject line. Please turn out to help with this important university-community partnership.

Separate from the security action plan, but still very relevant to student safety, Baltimore City is readying changes to ensure that the demise of the Charles Street "death lane" is permanent. What once was a "rush-hour only" travel lane will soon be converted to parking for northbound vehicles, making sure that southbound traffic stays out and ending the temporary aesthetic blight of barriers and barrels.

Finally, Jim McGill, senior vice president for finance and administration, has asked me to pass along an announcement. Ron Mullen, the highly effective and capable director of security for the Homewood campus for nearly 13 years, has announced his intention to retire.

Director Mullen has worked aggressively and tirelessly to ensure the safety and security of our students, faculty and staff. Since the early 1990s, he has earned respect and gratitude from successive student bodies for his dedication to student concerns and his openness to their suggestions.

Director Mullen has, of course, been an integral part of the team planning where best to focus the additional resources that President Brody and the deans have committed to security. He believes that the effort to fully implement improvements will last several years beyond his previously planned retirement date. In light of that, he feels the university will best be served by engaging a new director now to oversee the entire implementation.

Director Mullen will remain on the job until his successor is identified and will remain involved in a consulting role thereafter, so that we will continue to benefit from his wisdom and experience. Senior Vice President McGill is beginning a search for a new director who will meet the high standards that Director Mullen has set.

Sincerely,
Paula Burger
Dean of Undergraduate Education