Iowa State has plans in the works to make the Memorial Union safer, including a contingency plan to protect the union in case of a riot.

In light of the union’s upcoming renovation, the Memorial Union Board has been discussing the installation of an electronic system that would lock down the Memorial Union with the push of a button, said Richard Reynolds, director of the Memorial Union.

He said he thinks the safety of the Memorial Union is of particular concern because of its location on Lincoln Way.

“This was brought up as a post-Veishea consideration,” Reynolds said. “We haven’t got a contingency plan [in case of a riot] in place right now.”

Reynolds said no funding was set aside for the project when the renovation plans were originally developed. The project would most likely cost $2,500 to 3,000 per exterior door on the building, he said, but because there are many exterior doors, the project could get expensive.

Reynolds also suggested that in the event of a riot, the union could potentially act as a safe haven for those attempting to get away from the crowd.

This issue will be discussed more in depth in mid-October or early November, he said. If the project went ahead, he said it would most likely be completed in the renovation process around March 2005.

Memorial Union staff are also working with ISU Police to get a community service officer to patrol the union late at night.

Community service officers are uniformed students who have radios connecting them to the ISU Police, said Jerry Stewart, director of public safety. These officers have been a valuable resource in the last two years, he said, helping ISU Police with unlocking car doors, taking minor offense reports and helping out with fingerprinting. Stewart said that in this capacity the officers would walk around the parking ramp and union keeping an eye out for trouble and answering people’s questions.

Reynolds said the union hires similar personnel for evening events, charging groups putting on events $15 per hour to pay for the extra security. Hiring a community service officer would lessen the costs to groups putting on events, he said.

Bill Dee, Memorial Union program coordinator, said security became a concern last semester when budget cuts eliminated some night and weekend management positions. Dee said since then the union has been asking the custodial staff to take on some security jobs, such as checking to make sure doors are locked. But with further budget cuts, he said, the custodians are kept busy just doing their regular jobs, and he didn’t feel it was fair to give them the extra workload.

Stewart said there was no incident that incited plans for this position.

“It’s a complex maze of hallways,” Stewart said. “It’s prudent to consider if security staff is accurate.”

Dee said he would like to have the officer start out working Thursday through Saturday, the busiest nights for the union, from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. He said if that worked well, he would eventually like to see the position increase to each night.