The Scariest Man In Davis

Jason Hammond, who frequently does theater at the Woodland Opera House and DMTC, heard that they also do theater at the UC Davis campus, and he went ballistic!

Here is marvelous video footage from KCRA TV-3.

God forbid that they actually do musicals at UC Davis, or Jason *SMASH* Hammond might really get mad! FIRE! BAD!

Or maybe it was this tidbit from UCD researchers:

From partisans at a political rally to fans at a football game, groups that engage in pompous displays of collective pride may be trying to mask insecurity and a low social status, suggests new research led by University of California, Davis, psychologists.

Were they talking about WOH or DMTC? Maybe that's what set him off!

And just who is this "Maria"?

But whatever it was, it was just a drill! It was just a drill!

Under that actor's tough exterior shell, Jason is a sensitive soul. Just don't make him mad! (And please don't tell him about them doing musicals at UC Davis!)

Here's the Davis Enterprise article:

This one's only a drill

Lauren Keene
Enterprise staff writer
Published: October 23, 2008

The call from Vallejo police came at about 8 a.m. A man there had just beaten his mother-in-law, and was on his way to UC Davis to confront his estranged wife.

He was armed with a gun, and due on campus in 10 minutes or less.

Campus police promptly alerted the Cowell Student Health Center, the wife's workplace, where employees put into action a formal lockdown procedure that would protect the hospital's patients and staff until officers could arrive on scene.

Fortunately, the scenario that played itself out on the UCD campus Wednesday morning was not an actual threat. It was a training exercise focused on securing an older or historic building that lacks electronic access, such as card-key entries, automatic locks and sophisticated alarms.

The exercise arose from the UCD Police Department's "active shooter" training program, which Lt. Matt Carmichael created last year following the mass shooting at Virginia Tech that killed 32 people.

Now taught at colleges, school districts and police agencies across the country, the program teaches strategies for surviving a shooting incident in a school, workplace or other public setting.

Michelle Famula, director of the Cowell Student Health Center, said the training prompted some of her employees to question how they could make their 56-year-old building safer in the event of an external threat.

Working with police, those employees developed a draft policy and tracked down the low-cost equipment — such as walkie-talkies — that were needed to carry it out.

Highlights of the plan include a hierarchical incident-command structure, the strategic location of equipment to lock doors, and an emphasis on communication among the hospital's 120 employees.

"It's an impressive plan," said Carmichael, who added that a lack of communication can be one of the biggest failures in an emergency situation.

"That causes panic, and that causes people to react with not the best judgment," he said.

Organizers of Wednesday's training exercise opted for a domestic violence scenario because "this is, unfortunately, a common call," Carmichael said. "We know the leading cause of death for women in the workplace is homicide."

Administrators from the Yolo County and Vacaville school districts, as well as California State University, Dominguez Hills, and Santa Clara's Mission College were on campus to observe the drill.

Famula, the Cowell Student Health Center director, called the exercise a success.

"I think it went very well," she said. "It was a real opportunity to assure our staff that we can do this, if we keep our heads cool."

— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or (530) 747-8048. Comment on this story at www.davisenterprise.com

Copyright, 2008, The Davis Enterprise. All Rights Reserved.