1993_01 The Daily Collegian January 1993

              The Daily Collegian
VoL 100, No. 1
California State University, Fresno
Monday, Jan. 25, 1993
Welcome rains create costly damage
Harm to buildings, lots,
computer transformers
estimated at $20,000
By Nicola Kawabton
SnffWriter	
While the rainstorms thai struck the state in
early January temporarily solved the water-short¬
age crisis, the rain also caused new problems.
The storms caused an estimated $20,000 worth
of damage to CSUF, according to acting Director
of Plant Operations David Hernandez.
Hernandez prepared a report for the Fresno
County Office of Emergency Services request¬
ing financial assistance.
So much time has passed since the university
has been hit with a long-running rainstorm that
no preparations had been made to handle the
rapid influx of water.
The result was blown computer transformers
and flooded buildings, stroets, parking lots and
lawns. /
"I received a call at 2:20 In themorningjon Jan.
13 from Campus Security," Hernandez said.
"The water pumps on campus had (been) shut
off and everything was getting flooded."
The rain was pouring down so heavily and fast
that the pumps couldn't handle the sudden need
to drain the streets and automatically shut down,
Hernandez said.
Employees who were on-call worked 10 to 12
hours a day to restore thexampus to full working
capacity.
Water ran into the steam manholes that led to
the pipes that heat the campus.
Hernandez said if too much of the cold water
got into the hot pipes the steam would have bu i U.
up and possibly would have caused them to burst.
All the manholes had to be sealed with rubber
inner-tubes.
Parking Lot Q was closed and was pumped,
along with some of the streets on campus.
The lowe/ level ofthe Residence Dining Facil¬
ity received the most damage and was still block¬
aded with sandbags last week.
The building had about 10 inches to one foot of
water inside and was surrounded by three feet of
water outside, according to Hernandez.
A storm on Dec. 30 caused a transformer in
themain computer system to blow. This threw
off the Student Telephone Assisted Registration
See Rain, page 8
STAR
system
fails
Power failure stalls
student telephone
registration process
By Adam Breen
gggajg	
J ■
The abundance of rain over the holi¬
days was a blessing to the parched
Central Valley, but it was a burden to
many students trying to register for
classes by telephone.
A leak in a high- voltage transformer
near the Leon S. Peters Business Build¬
ing allowed water to seep in and cause
a three-day, campus-wide power fail¬
ure Dec. 30.
Students attempting to register Cor
classes the moming of Jan. 2 discov¬
ered that the Student Telephone As¬
sisted Registration system was inop¬
erative.
A back-up generator was used for
30 to 45 minutes after the power fail¬
ure, but the computers had to be shut
down because the air conditioning that'
cools them 24 hours a day was not
working.
Lack of monitors
Jim Morris, director of computing
communications and media services,
said there were a "minimal" amount of
• operators monitoring the computers
because of a week-long campus holi¬
day.
"They couldn't react in time," he
said. "The problem would have been
lessened if we had normal staffing at
that time."
The compute? system went on-line
that night, but a problem with a pro¬
cessing device associated with the
phone system was not corrected until
the next evening.
The computer and phone systems
were disabled again for 45 minutes on
the moming of Jan. 4.
Troubles for students
Richard Backer, director of admis¬
sions, said some students experienced
"significant difficulties" when they
tried to register for classes.
"The system hung up on some stu¬
dents after they entered their social
security number." he said "Long-dis¬
tance callers had trouble getting
See Registration, page 8
Don't you dare
Chivalrous King Carlisle (Paul Bergman) threatens the undead
la Condesa (Robert Maus) in order to save his girlfriend from
falling prey to the lesbian vampire's treachery in "Vampire
Chrlatine Bator/ Th* Dally Collegian
Lesbians of Sodom," which played for two seekends in the
Laboratory School during the winter break. The production
was presented by the Theatre Arts Department.
Staff memo warns of asbestos
Plant Operations finds some hazardous
material in 41 buildings, but students
are not in danger, director says
By Lao Pena
Saffwrirer
Asbestos Containing Building Ma-
Krials(ACBM)arcpresentin41 build¬
ings on campus and employees are
urged to use care not to disturb the
material.
In a memo sent to CSUF employees
on Jan. 11 by Paul E. Bissonnette.
executive assistant to the president for
administration. CSUF staff were urged,
in part, to avoid touching walls, ceil¬
ings, pi pes or boilers containing asbes¬
tos.
Hole drilling and plant hanging is to
be avoided and light bulb replacement
is to be done very carefully to avoid
disturbing ACBM. according to the
memo.
But. said David Terstegen. CSUF
environmental health and safety of¬
ficer, danger to students is "none."
The danger, he said, "occurs only
when it starts falling apart."   _   •
The memo was sent in compliance
with Assembly Bill 3713. which is
required by state law to warn people
working in areas containing asbestos
material.
Tergesten said. "It's only a warning
thai. hey. it'a here."
David Hernandez, acting director or
Plant Operations, said there's "no dan¬
ger whatsoever" to students.
He said that only when the asbestos
becomes airborne does it pose a haz¬
ard, such as if the material was sanded
or deteriorated to the point where the
asbestos fibers are released into the air.
The New Science Building is in its
final phase of a three-year asbestos
abatement project.
The building has acoustical ceil¬
ings, floor tile and pipe insulation that
contains asbestos.
According to Tergesten. the asbes¬
tos removal is expensive.
The projected five-year cost for the
New Science Building'sabatement was
placed at $3 million to S4 million, but
Tergesten said the project will likely
cost SI million to $1.5 million.
Last year, he said. $300,000 was
spent on asbestos abatement.
All 41 buildings may never be en¬
tirely abated, but'within 10 to 15 years
a majority of the buildings with ACBM
will be abated. Tergesten said.
Only buildings that need remodel¬
ing and that have ACBM will have
their asbestos abated, he said.  •
However, such factors as the condi¬
tion of the building, location and who
may be exposed to the material w*l
also be considered.
According to Tergesten. the major¬
ity of abatement is done during the
summer, when students' are out of
school.
Bruce and Donna Jackson, owners
of Brunna Enterprises, an asbestos re¬
moval service, said. "As long as the
asbestos is undisturbed" there's no
danger to students.
Jackson said that the areas to be
abated are cordoned off with warning
tape.
Two layers of protective film are
placed on the floor and walls of the
area to be abated and the workers must
wear protective suits dupng the abate¬
ment-'   -
The asbestos is scraped off of the
ceilings* as is the case for specially
designed acoustical ceilings.
The air in the area is constantly
being pulled through a filter that leaves
the outgoing air 99.9 percent clean of
asbestos fibers. Jackson said.
When the abatement is completed.
See Asbestos, page 8