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Tuesday, February 16, 2016
RACLE Volume 100 | Issue 11 | Free in single copy
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Bell Hall temporarily closed after small fire, class schedule affected
Chatting with the President
By REBECCA FINLEY Beat Reporter
Kim Biggs l The Oracle FIRESIDE CHATS - On Thursday, Feb. 11 during dead hour, President Philip Oldham answered questions and acknowledged concerns from students and faculty during the open forum. University officials from various departments attended the meeting to provide further insight for questions asked at the meeting. Questions and comments ranged from parking to the snow cancellation policy.
Bell Hall closed Wednesday, Feb. 10, after an equipment fire occurred on the first floor near Health Services. At approximately 11:18 a.m. officer Bobby Hunter responded to the scene after the fire alarm went off. The fire started after an air compressor in the mechanical room shorted on the first floor, according to Kevin Burchett, facilities associate. According to the Tech police report, “Burchett was able to put the fire out with a 10 lb. ABC fire extinguisher.” Health Services and Bell Hall both closed for the remainder of the day due to smoke and the smell of burnt plastic and electrical wiring. Because the mechanical room is near the elevator shaft, the smell
spread to both the second and third floors of Bell Hall; however, the auditorium was not affected and remained open throughout the day. The Cookeville Fire Department responded to the scene at 11:30 a.m. They used electric fans in order to clear the smoke and odor from the building, according to the Tech police report. James Cobb, director of environmental health and safety, said only minimal damage was caused by the fire. Will Walker, nursing student, said, “We were scheduled to have class until 2, and our first exam was to follow. Being in nursing school is already extremely busy with clinical, lecture and exams every week, let alone trying to reschedule an exam due to a fire.” Health services as well as classes resumed as normal the following day.
Tech to begin planning for $90 million science building By ELISSA LONGFELLOW Beat Reporter Tennessee Tech’s new science building investment is expected to reach $90 million, according to Claire Stinson, vice president for planning and finance, as plans progress after Gov. Bill Haslam’s recent budget announcement. This is close to a $5 million increase from Gov. Haslam’s budget reference at the State of the State address Feb. 1. The building, at 150,000 square feet, will be the largest building on campus once it’s completed. “ T h e Oldham Science Building design and construction offers us the opportunity to continue creating the signature experiences we envision for all students,” said President Phil Oldham. “The building will be designed to meet the
unique needs of our faculty and students, plus it will help us reshape the campus as we continue to prepare for growth.” Tech will be required to fund up to $18.75 million while the state provides the remaining $71.25 million of the $90 million price tag. The governor’s budget called for $581.6 million to build and repair higher education buildings and general state government facilities. Of that amount, Tech received the largest portion, with the next highest amount given to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center for a new $39 million dentistry building. The new complex will be available to all majors and disciplines, however it will focus on preparing science and engineering students to help further state economic development initiatives. According to Karen Lykins, associate vice president for communications and marketing, Tech’s number of science, technology, engineering and math students is ex-
pected to increase; therefore, Tech wants to accommodate these growing fields. “As those numbers of STEM students grow and our expertise in that area grows, this will be our signature building that we will grow into. There should be space to expand and adapt. We are building for the future,” said Lykins. The new science complex will house one of the state’s largest undergraduate chemistry programs. “In a typical day, almost 2,000 students enter the building to take a chemistry course,” said Jeffrey Boles, Lykins chairman for the chemistry department. “A new building will provide even more momentum to help the faculty and students who are responsible for our current success.” In addition to the chemistry
program, the building will also house a portion of the biology program and other sciences. It will also provide laboratories for undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs in environmental science, nursing and engineering. The initial timeline of construction expects completion by January 2019; however, this timeline is currently under review, and construction should be completed by early 2020 with the building being fully occupied shortly after. The location of the building, between Peachtree and Stadium drives, was chosen in an effort to join the eastern and western portions of campus. This will increase connectivity throughout campus as westward expansion continues in the future. According to Tech’s Master Plan, “Placing the Science Building at the western end of the chosen site and aligning its center with Bartoo and Kittrell Halls will allow the new structure to both establish an edge for the academic campus while
responding to and extending the Campus’s historic organization.” The new building will take the place of what is now a commuter parking lot. Plans for a new lot are underway and slated to be completed before ground is broken on the science complex. The parking lot will be located on the west side of campus behind Tech Village. The old commuter lot has 600 parking spaces, but the planned lot will have approximately 1,100 spaces, according to Associate Vice President of Facilities Jack Butler. The addition of this new parking lot will follow the plans outlined in the Flight Plan to move all of Tech’s parking to the exterior of campus. Once the parking is moved, an expanded shuttle service will be implemented. “The goal for the shuttle service is to have a schedule that you can depend on,” said Lykins. “We want it to be absolutely predictable on times of arrival and departure, and also to have enough shuttles to make that happen.”
Volpe Library assesses damage from ceiling vent leak By ANNA MCFARLAND Beat Reporter
Tech’s custodial staff reported a leak in the Angelo and Jennette Volpe Library around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10. According to Coordinator of Public Services Sharon Holderman, library administration is unaware of how long the leak had been going on. “Everything was fine at 2 a.m. the previous night when the library closed because we do walk the floors at closing,” said Holderman. “Based on the damage, we don’t believe it had been leaking very long.” An HVAC vent leading to the outside of the building did not properly close, which allowed cold air to come Read More Online
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inside the building. One of the HVAC pipes froze and broke causing leaks in the A-wing stairwell and the third floor ceiling near the stairwell. According to Library Administration Dean Douglas Bates, custodial staff and facilities were prompt in correcting the problem. “It has been fixed, and they responded very quickly,” Bates said. “There was not very much time at all between the time they found it to the time they got there.” Custodial staff put plastic sheeting over the bookshelves to route the water into trashcans. All books were removed from the affected area. “All in all there was not much damage,” said Holderman. “A ceiling leak in the library over books could end up much worse, so we were pretty lucky.” The HVAC damage will be paid by
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facilities and the book damage will be paid by the library’s regular collection budget, according to Holderman. Bates estimated the damage could cost anywhere from $7,000 to $10,000. “We probably lost 100, maybe 150 books,” said Bates. The library will order new books to replace those that were too wet to salvage. The replacements will be newer, updated books on the same topics. The librarians began purchasing and searching for replacement books the day the leak was discovered. Library administration claimed facilities and custodial staff were well equipped to handle the problem in a timely manner. “You just have to be prepared because you never know what’s going to happen,” said Bates.
Kim Biggs l The Oracle SEA OF BOOKS - Over 100 books suffered water damage from the HVAC ceiling leak in Volpe Library Wednesday, Feb. 10. The cost of damages ranges from $7,000 to $10,000.
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