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Daily Planet Staff 

Today at 12:30 p.m. UC Berkeley will be conducting a test of its emergency public siren system. 

The university plans to use the system to warn the campus community of imminent power outages, in case it becomes subject to them. 

Three different sounds will be heard within a 1-2 mile range of the university: first the sound of a fire engine, then the alternating high/low siren sound, then there will be a third sound. There will be pauses between the warning sounds and announcements will follow via a loud-speaker system. The university decided to make sure its warning system is in working condition, even though it has asked Pacific Gas & Electric for an exemption from the rotating outages. “We appealed in December,” said UC Berkeley spokesperson Glenda Rubin. “We believe certain research and other campus functions could be severely affected.” 

There has been no response to the appeal, Rubin said. 

If the university becomes subject to the outages, PG&E has promised to give some advance warning so that the university can activate its emergency sirens, alerting persons not to use elevators and to take other precautions. The power outages at the university are expected to affect only the university and not the surrounding areas, although the sirens will be heard in other parts of the community.