Campus briefs

Earthquake awareness month ends with a sheared bolt

The earthquake cottage that was supposed to stand in front of St. Joseph's Hall this afternoon from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., as part of the ePrep'd an earthquake awareness program for November, left early after the machine was damaged.

According to Matt Cameron, assistant vice provost for student life, a bolt had snapped off part of the mechanism which moved the house forward and backward, something the company had never seen before.

"They've never had anything like that happen before," Cameron said. "Unfortunately there's nothing else we could do about it."

The original price for all four hours of the machine and transport from Los Angeles was $2,950, however Cameron said the university will probably end up paying less.

October was the inaugural month for the ePrep'd campaigns. Cameron said they chose to focus on earthquakes because the large freshman class was mainly born after 1988 and would not have been aware of the Loma Prieta earthquake -- if they were in Northern California at all.

January will be the "72 hours of preparedness" month, according to Cameron, based off Red Cross recommendations to have enough water and food to last 72 hours in the event of an emergency.

Campus parking restricted over break for commuters

Students with E or E-Law permits will not be permitted to store their cars in the parking structure during the Thanksgiving academic break.

Students will also not be allowed to park overnight. The ban will last from Nov. 21 to 27, and will include other E permit lots on campus including next to the Arts and Sciences building.

From staff reports. E-mail news@thesantaclara.com.