~
.
.
' '
'
Board of Trustees meeting spans various topics; Widespread growth predicted for NIC See Campus News Section
'· .. i '
the .-
. ·:....· ,...... r
_
.::
...- --:\
.~ ,
.. ,
-- -.
-.-- .- _-,;.-.-.~ - .... ,·~,~,--.-----.~. ._----
-;; ). .. ,
Sentinel
_
Y!...•'.'.~'l.l:...~~ .... --.it,__ _..
-.:
~
-t
~-
~.' "l1l • . I , ~-
-
-......
•._.~
~.•, I
>-' ,-
_.,:. _
_
- .~ .
1
••
t•,•
·-.::
-_
~J_
!\
_,;.,.__-1.1!.,.•~ _::_.:
-....
'
Jr ! ~ ',_.j" •.'.• _. -- .. :_
-. .
.
--
'
I , , , •,..._\ _;_
• , F
-
!._
•
, ·
-
, .• I
•
.
•
.
.-- -
-
~
-- -
..... :-::'
__::
•
-
'
.
":Ji'M.
Dust pollution major problem affecting NIC by Rachel J. Williams ~tcutil'e Editor
The average students may no1 notice 1he dust 1ha1 Oies behind their cnrs as 1hey travel along River Avenue toward the Dike Road or 1hc library parking 101, bul Supervisor of Grounds Mike Halpern notices. Especially when he's sining in his office amidst 1hc haic of dus1 1ha1 fogs 1he air or lries 10 clean his compu1ers day after day, only 10 find 1hem dusty again in the morning. Halpern first began studying the si1ua1ion n while back when he feh 1he dus1 wns becoming a serious problem. He added 1ha1 the dust pollution had bothered him for the las1 1hrce or four
thousands of dollars wonh of machines. The biggest concern, however. appears 10 be the fac1 tha1 River Avenue is highly used by 1he college, Halpern said. He has been collec1ing dnia from lraffic moni1oring sys1ems 1ha1 coun1 1he number of cars traveling down roads on campus. In a seven-hour period, an average of 1.400 cars drive down River, 1oward 1hc library parking lot. In 1he summer, public use of the arcu picks up significantly because of the bench and 1he Cen1cnnial Trail running right along lhc Dike Road. Halpern is worried 1he dus1 is hannful 10 lhe people breathing ii in. "I firmly believe 1hcre·s a heallh hazard 10 sit and breath this stuff all day
years. bu1 he jus1 recen1ly began doing
long," he said, speaking of people in his
somelhing abou1 ii. Most of 1hc problems s1em from Hubbard S1ree1, according 10 llnlpern, where the logging trucks IUrn on 10 River Avenue on their wny 10 1he mill. Halpern said he sees the trucks dragging dirt and gravel all the way down Hubbard, which is unpaved, and pulling it al l out in the pathway of cars driving down River. On dry days. the dus1 mes al l over, coms 1he vehicles parked in the library parking 101, fillers imo the buildings and seules on everything, Halpern said. During the Inst year, Halpern said he made several inquiries abou1 who was responsible for the problem. Though the surrounding land belongs 10 either 1hc college, the mill or the railroad, who all own propeny surrounding the streets, i1's the city who owns Hubbard. The mill and 1he city have recemly made o fow cffons to reduce the dust. "The mill seems helpful," Halpern said. He added that the city sends a street sweeper by. and the mill wa1ers and oils the din road. "They con oil ond wa1er all they want; the lrucks still drag it out," Halpern said, l1's not just 1he dust iiself, bu1 the damage lhe dust does, Halpern said, pointing ou1 lhe expensive equipmen1 and computers occupying 1he desks in 1he security building and the new library. He said it· s impossible 10 keep them clean and 1hc dust is really bad ror the
building and those in the surrounding
areas. Halpern said he·s tnlkcd with Ci1y Air Quali1y Analys1, Dan Redline, who has helped out a grea1 deal. Halpern has also showed pho1os he·s rnken of 1he dust Oying 10 Mayor Al Hassell in an effon 10 make him aware of the problem. ..On one hand, rm geuing n good re sponse," Halpern said ... bu1 on 1he other hand, nothing seems 10 change." Redline s1epped in and began researching March 5 10 collect darn on the dus1 paniclcs along with other pollu1an1s in 1hc area. He es1ima1es the research will hall io another two weeks. Research is expected 10 pick up agnin in the fall, possibly targeting olher po1entinl pollu1ed areas, Redline said. What they are checking for on cao1pus is particulate ma11er, which hos the po1en1ial 10 be very dangerous 10 the respira1ory sys1em. A moni1or has been placed in front of the the security office to measure pollutaol levels. Redline said. According 10 Redline, the harmful particulates ore invisible 10 the naked eye. He said the mauer that is harmful 10 breathing contains panicle.s less than 10 microns (PM I0). "A period on a sentence is about 500 microns," Redline said, illustrating how small a particle less 1han 10 microns would have 10 be. Redline doesn't nnticipate any major
Please see POLLUTION Page 3
photo by Fekadu Klros Nagasaki exchange student Rena Tominaga performs. See related story on page 2.