Faculty who work in the Faculty Towers at California State University, Bakersfield are concerned about their safety after receiving a memo Wednesday that said the building is "seismically deficient."
"I'm nervous about working in the building and I'm not the only one," said one faculty member who did not want to be identified.
In the memo today, the Vice President of Facilities Management, Patrick Jacobs, said immediately after Tuesday's earthquake he went to look at the building for damage. He said there was no damage, but he consulted with experts to ensure the buildings safety.
"The building is built in accordance to the seismic and building codes that were in effect in the 1970s and it is just as safe as any other building in Bakersfield build at the same time period," said Jacobs.
He said the building meets all of the state's seismic and building codes, but it's classified as seismically deficient by a CSU self-established seismic committee made up of experts in the field of architecture and engineering.
"The CSU, because of a number of people who come and go from our campuses are desiring to develop a standard that far exceeds the state's mandates relative to building codes," said Jacobs.
CSUB's police chief, Marty Williamson, said everyone was told it was safe to go back inside because there were no signs that it was unsafe to reenter.
"At that point, we had no indications of any type of damage, no indication of any injuries, so therefore it did not raise to the standard that we would evacuate the buildings," said Chief Williamson.
The faculty member said it made her feel better knowing the building was inspected, but she said she's still not completely convinced.
"You want to come to work, you want to do your job, but it would be nice to be very comfortable and know we're safe," said the faculty member.
The CSU system has given CSU Bakersfield money to build a new building for faculty and that project is underway. It is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2017.
