On Oct. 12, Director of Public Safety Mike Celeste sent out a schoolwide e-mail to staff and students addressing the upcoming “Great California ShakeOut” event to take place on campus on Oct. 15.

This e-mail was originally composed by Skyline President Victoria Morrow and was published in the Oct. 9 issue of “Skyline Shines.” Students were told that “at the selected time to please imagine an earthquake has occurred.”

Although admirable in theory, this concept proved to be problematic for many instructors and students.

“The drill was a good idea because it talked about the importance of earthquake preparedness,” said Masao Suzuki, professor of economics.

However, Suzuki did point out the difficulty some teachers may have had in accommodating this disruption in an already tightly packed class schedule.

“The announcement wasn’t enough for me…because for me it’s hard to adjust class time,” said Professor Suzuki.

In addition to some staff members being discontented with the drill, many students also failed to see why the administration was taking time away from their classes in order to participate in a hypothetical disaster situation.

“The drill was pointless,” said Skyline student Anna Tran. “No one took it seriously. I received one e-mail beforehand so I understood why they wanted students to participate, but it was unclear when the drill began and ended because there was no end announcement.”

For some students who did not check their student e-mail before the ShakeOut, they saw the drill as free time to just chat in class.

Overall, the message of the ShakeOut warranted some praise but problems with the delivery of the PA message robbed the drill of its effectiveness. The reception and clarity of the announcements cut in and out as directions were being given to students. Some professors failed to even acknowledge the announcements and because there was no final message to let people know when the drill was over, many students did not seem to take the drill very seriously.

“Maybe there are other ways to raise people’s awareness about it” Professor Suzuki said. “It’s a challenge.”