Power outage disrupts mental health panel at SAIT
By Jessica Dezall
Power failed in Campus Centre’s Orpheus Theatre on Feb. 5, during the fourth annual mental health panel for journalism students which was organized by SAIT’s journalism academic chair Sandra Lee.
“Bananas,” said Lee when describing the event in an interview two days after.
“It’s the construction.”
SAIT’s Campus Centre has been under construction for several months.
The power went out 15 minutes into the discussion, affecting the microphone and the lights.
The safety lights came on after a moment of darkness.
“We’ll just have to project,” said Greg Fulmes, the SAIT journalism instructor who was hosting the panel.
The panellists, Mara Grunau, Lois Hayward and Amy Price, continued despite the inconvenience.
The hundred or so attendees, most of whom had been assigned to write a story on the event, remained seated and continued to work.
“It was interesting that everyone plugged on,” said Lee.
“It was really hard to hear them from the back row,” said Vincent Lavoie, a SAIT broadcast news student in an interview following the event.
“I think it’s the first power outage I’ve ever lived at SAIT. I wasn’t expecting it for sure.”
The safety lights turned off 12 minutes later, and the room fell completely dark.
“We thought it was bad, and it got worse,” said panelist Hayward, SAIT’s student development and counselling supervisor.
Suddenly the safety lights returned after several seconds.
Fulmes proceeded with his next point of discussion for the panel.
The panelists shared several tips for journalists.
“A huge part of your job as a journalist is taking care of yourself,” said Price, communications assistant for the Calgary region of the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Grunau, executive director at the Centre for Suicide Prevention, offered key advice on maintaining personal mental health.
“Find the things in your life that bring you joy,” she said.
“And keep them there.”
Fulmes gave a question that each journalist should ask when reporting on mental illness.
“Will I be able to sleep tonight if I do this?”
After an hour, Fulmes opened the discussion to the audience.
“Is it possible to get through mental illness without medication if it gets really bad?” asked Isabella Vergara, a first-year SAIT journalism student.
“It really depends on what’s happening there, what the mental illness is, how severe, all those kinds of things,” replied Hayward.
“Yes, it is possible, but that’s a conversation between a professional and that person.”
Vergara revealed in a follow-up interview that she used to take medication for ADHD, but the medication actually caused anxiety.
“I was recently diagnosed with anxiety,” she explained.
“I want to find ways to get through this without medication. That’s why I asked the question.”
Six minutes and two questions later, the building was evacuated.
“Please exit in an orderly fashion,” said Fulmes, ending the discussion.
This caused a rush of about 20 students to the front, asking for contact information from the panellists.
Several students failed to obtain contact information.
Less than five minutes later, Fulmes was informed that the building was no longer being evacuated.
But Grunau and most attendees had already left.
A few journalists stayed behind to speak with Fulmes, Hayward and Price.
“My voice was cracky when I did my introduction, but as soon as the lights went off, I’m like, ‘Oh, this is easier,’” said Price.
Their conversation was cut short when the room went completely black.
The safety lights didn’t come back on.
Hayward, Price and the two remaining journalism students made their way to the back exit by cellphone flashlights, meeting Lee.
“Even the safety lights should be on because they’re on a separate circuit,” said Lee in the follow-up interview.
“That was really weird and really unsafe.”
In an interview following the event, Fulmes said the power outage didn’t bother him at all.
“In this business as a journalist, you’re used to dealing with stuff,” he said.
“When stuff goes crazy, that’s when you work. When nothing’s happening, there’s no story.”
Vergara evacuated after getting the panelists’ contact information.
“I got so mad cause I had more questions,” she said, admitting she still found the panel helpful.
“It didn’t just help me with my story idea, but it also helped me personally ’cause now I know I can get help at SAIT.”