by Matthew Pertz, News Editor
Asbury’s math department is helping campus security formulate new evacuation plans.
“We are using math to optimize an emergency evacuation of Hughes Auditorium and creating a model that can be shared and easily understood by the student body,” said Reid Matheison, freshman math student.
The department plans to craft formulas based on different variables that could interrupt exiting, like backpacks in the floor or students moving at different paces.
Asbury’s campus practices at least one evacuation every semester, following the current procedure in place. The math department is contributing to make the plan more efficient and ensure every student can exit as quickly as possible.
“Since the whole student body is gathered together in one place during chapel,” freshman Sarah Townsend, a math major, said, “it is important to have a quick and efficient evacuation plan in case of any type of emergency.”
The department recently fielded a record six teams to participate in the COMAP Math Modeling Competition and is riding their hot streak into solving more local issues.
“We are excited to be able to contribute to the Asbury community and put our math skills to work in a real life situation,” Matheison said. “The math department at Asbury emphasizes group work in all aspects of learning so we are working as a collective to create a model for the chapel evacuation.”
As for a timeline, they hope to have a final suggestion before graduation. “We should be [able to] complete the model some time within the next semester,” Townsend said.
