September is Campus Fire Safety Month!

What will JUSTICE do to commemorate Campus Fire Safety Month? We have a few projects that call on you to spread education and awareness about fire safety on your campus. We are finishing the two most important features of FireSafetyFoundation.org, a marketplace where you can purchase a personalized fire safety kit and a directory for fire regulations and emergency numbers around the world. We think it is very important to let students know about these resources, especially if they're studying abroad. Take a look at the opportunities below and e-mail FireSafetyFoundaion@gmail.com if you'd like to join the team.

Table at your Study Abroad Fair!

Many colleges and universities host study abroad fairs in the month of September. Find out when your study abroad fair is or find a public space on campus where you can promote JUSTICE. Send us an e-mail letting us know how many volunteers you have, approximately how many students you will encounter in a day, and when you will be tabling, and JUSTICE will send you brochures, posters, mini-flashlights, and t-shirts for the volunteers. Please be sure to take lots of pictures.

Campus Fire Safety Art Contest

To spread fire safety awareness this September, JUSTICE is holding a fire safety tip art contest! Submit an illustrated version of a fire safety tip, from the list below, from the Make a Plan section on our website, or any fire safety tip you know. It can be beautiful, it can be silly…as long as it is clear and instructional. Be creative!

Submit your illustration with a caption stating the fire safety tip by emailing it as a PDF to firesafetyartcontest@gmail.com. Maximum size is 8 ½ by 11.

The best drawings will be distributed on participating campuses during the month of September. They will also be posted on the JUSTICE website and blog to encourage others to distribute them on their campuses! We will be accepting submissions through the end of September, but submit by September 15th for a higher chance of getting your drawing distributed. Winners receive a JUSTICE t-shirt.

Fire safety tip examples:
-Plan two ways out of every room
-Stop, drop, and roll
-Keep space heaters at least 3 feet from anything flammable
-Do not open a door that is warm to the touch (test it with the BACK of your hand)
-Stay low to prevent being overcome by smoke as quickly
-Test your smoke alarm
-Install a smoke alarm in your bedroom
-Before you throw out butts and ashes, make sure they are out by dowsing in water or sand.
-Never smoke in bed
-Keep an eye on your cooking and stay in the kitchen. Unattended cooking is the leading cause of
cooking fires
-Extinguish food fires with baking soda. Never use water or flour on cooking fires
-Keep the oven door shut and turn off the heat to smother an oven or broiler fire.
-Slide a pan lid over flames to smother a grease or oil fire, then turn off the heat and leave the lid in
place until the pan cools. Never carry the pan outside
-Do not overload electrical outlets or power strips
-Frayed wires can cause fires. Replace all worn, old or damaged appliance cords immediately
-Immediately shut off, then professionally replace, light switches that are hot to the touch and lights
that flicker.
-Do not add lighter fluid to an already lit fire because the flame can flashback up into the container and
explode.
-Dispose of hot coals properly - douse them with plenty of water, and stir them to ensure that the fire is
out. Never place them in plastic, paper or wooden containers
-Do not open the hood or trunk of a car if you suspect a fire under it. Air could rush in, enlarging the fire, leading to injury. Move away from the car and call 911
-Don’t live in / stay above the 7th floor. Fire fighters may not be able to rescue you!

Distributing Fire Safety Tips on Your Campus!

A simple way to include your University for Campus Fire Safety Month is to print out and distribute the winning illustrations on your campus (we will post them). Send us your info and we'll include you on the list:

Participating Universities:
Florida State University
University of California, Berkeley
University of Florida

Emergency Phone numbers in top 25 countries for study abroad program

Update on UC Jasmine Jahanshahi Memorial Scholarships

August 10, 2011

Dear UCEAP Campus and Systemwide Office Staff:

I am honored to announce the recipients of the inaugural Jasmine Jahanshahi Scholarships. Those were established to honor the memory of Jasmine Jahanshahi, a stellar UC Berkeley student who died tragically while participating in UCEAP’s Sciences Po Program in Paris.

I was pleased to see the extraordinary response to this first call. Over 130 applications were received, many documenting high academic achievement and a strong commitment to global issues. This is the standard of excellence, global awareness and engagement that Jasmine Jahanshahi exemplified.

I determined that for the inaugural year of this scholarship, UCEAP will allocate an additional $16,500 to the initial pool of $5,000, for a total of $21,500. The two Jasmine Jahanshahi Scholarships of $2,500 have been awarded as well as an additional 17 scholarships ($1,500, $1,000, and $500) for the 2011-12 year.

Did You Know?

• On average in the United States in 2009, someone died in a fire every 175 minutes, and someone was injured every 31 minutes (Karter 2010).
• About 85% of all U.S. fire deaths in 2009 occurred in homes (Karter 2010).
• In 2009, fire departments responded to 377,000 home fires in the United States, which claimed the lives of 2,565 people (not including firefighters) and injured another 13,050, not including firefighters (Karter 2010).
• Most victims of fires die from smoke or toxic gases and not from burns (Hall 2001).
• Smoking is the leading cause of fire-related deaths (Ahrens 2010).
• Cooking is the primary cause of residential fires (Ahrens 2010).