Editor,
I attended the UNM Board of Regents meeting on Tuesday and watched the dog-and-pony show regarding the fire in the library. There is still no definitive answer as to the cause of the fire, but it was hinted that it could have been arson. No one is willing to say. UNM's slide show presentations were designed to do what UNM does best - cover its ass and deny any responsibility.
Few people know that due to poor management at Zimmerman Library, only one library staff person is on duty in the evenings. This is in a building with public access, open far into the evening, until midnight, in fact. It's a huge, multistory building. Why were there no security cameras in place when there was only one regular staff person to cover that entire building? Why did the library management not put this in its report to the regents? The place was understaffed and unsecured. This was an accident waiting to happen, and all the management seems to be concerned with is liability.
I think it's about time people in management at Zimmerman were taken to task for not only their shortsighted safety policies and inadequate fire systems, but for skimping on staff and security to save a few bucks. After all, the repairs don't come out of their pockets. They come out of the taxpayers' in the form of higher insurance premiums.
Terry Mulcahy
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UNM staff
