Tuesday, February 8, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Car accident
A Lawrence resident passes by a smashed car at the intersection of 25th and Iowa streets yesterday afternoon. The accident occurred about noon. Photo by Nick Krug/KANSAN
University lacks time, funds to replace electrical units
By Sara Shepherd
By Sara Shepherd
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff write
Some campus transformers such as the one that exploded on the north side of Strong Hall Saturday
— are old and overloaded, but University officials say they don't have the money to replace the electrical units.
Saturday's explosion, which caused a small fire and cut off power to wall outlets inside the building, was the fourth transformer failure at the University of Kansas since Sept. 1997.
University architect Warren Corman said the exact age of the unit that exploded behind Strong Hall was unknown — the name plates were burned and no records were available. However, he said several sources who had been at the University a long time thought the unit had been there for 40 to 50 years.
It's an outlier. Cornelius said, D.D. Robb, a consulting engineer in Salina and former KU professor of electrical engineering, said it was not uncommon for transformers to last up to 40 or 50 years, providing they were not overloaded. He said failure could be a result of either old age, overloading or a combination of
the two.
Corman said the combination of old age and technological devices that draw large amounts of power might have led to the transformer's failure.
"The load has gotten a lot heavier on it," Corman said. "It was both overloaded and worn-out."
To give an example of the increased power used, Corman said the 4,000-volt unit would be replaced with a 12,000-volt one — eventually.
Corman said money for any campus electrical updates had to be appropriated first by the Kansas Legislature because the University was a state institution.
"We usually replace them whenever we get the money," Corman said. "And that's hard to get."
Until then, the transformer's original workload is being covered by a generator, at a cost of more than $5,000 per month, Corman said. He said a new transformer would cost about $30,000.
Mike Richardson, director of facilities operations, said about 60 transformers on campus were more than 25 or 30 years old. He said campus transformers had been updated as much as possible with funds from the Crumbling Classrooms Project, a Regents-issued bond to finance campus upgrades.
"There's no regulations at all," Richardson said.
Richardson said workers were not required by law to check the units.
Richardson said that the University tried to keep the units maintained but that scheduling a time was difficult. Because workers must physically touch wires in the units to clean and test them, Richardson said testing and maintenance required a complete power outage.
"There's never a convenient time to do that," he said. "It's been a real problem for us. In order to perform the maintenance, you have to have the power outage."
Corman said that several on-campus transformers had failed in the past but that none exploded or caught on fire like the one at Strong Hall.
"They're not dangerous," Corman said. "It just means they don't work anymore."
Richardson said the cause of the explosion still was being investigated.
He also said that electrical system updating plans were in progress so that workers would be able to isolate smaller sections of campus at a time for power outages.
Meeting addresses campus shooting
Continued from page 1A
Floyd Cline, St. Charles, Mo., senior, blamed alcohol — which is not allowed at the functions.
"People come in the door drunk," Cline said. "I don't know what the solution is."
Another problem addressed at the meeting was the fact that African-American Greek fraternities did not have houses and had to have their functions on campus. When something happens on campus, it gets more attention, many said.
Page said that the parties were one of the only places for African-American students to gather.
"Do you go downtown?" Page said. "No, because it doesn't meet your needs."
Page asked the crowd what its suggestions were in preventing problems such as the shooting.
Terrell L. McTyer, Kansas City, Kan., senior, said the problem wasn't security.
"There was a high amount of security," McTyer said. "Even if we had all of KU P.D. or the National Guard, a weapon can still get through."
Some in the crowd said that problems at parties may have been caused by two groups: people who came from as far away as Wichita and football players. The crowd then discussed if limiting the number of non-KU students would help.
"As a people, I think exclusion should be the last thing in our mind since we have been excluded from so much in the past," McTyer said.
The crowd also discussed how African Americans were covered in the media. Many said that coverage of African Americans focused only on negative events.
"Are we making an epidemic out of one event?" said Brad Harrrah, St. Joseph, Mo., graduate student.
---
Searching for New Gift Ideas?
Valentine's Day Section Thursday
SO YOU WANT TO BE IN ROCK CHALK?
Applications for Pre Show Entertainment are now available in the O & L Office.