The Vista July 9, 1998

Page 1

THURSDAY

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA

BUTTERFAT

SPORTS

Ice cream price soars 3

Lacy, All-American 6

WEB SERVER

LILITH FAIR

More online service 4

REHABILITATION Inmates paint fences 5

JULY 9, 1998

Girls having fun 9 AW7493,‘14

d&w" s.7 / . 4VW1rr)

UCO/DPS Then and now 11

The Student Voice Since 1903

Dorm residents suffer in heat without air conditioning By Jim Hulsey StaffWiller

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roups of students are struggling with the heat—not from exposure to the outside temperatures, but from the lack of working air conditioning in their dorm rooms and some classrooms. Each year, UCO resident halls have been plagued with air conditioning problems. With triple digit heat index numbers being forecast this summer, there is cause for students to be concerned. The primary problems with the air conditioning is they can not operate with the efficiency they were originally designed to perform, said Farrell Rossen, assistant director of facilities management. In the mid-1980s federal fire code regulations changed the way heat/air exchange units regulated air flow in buildings. The intent was to contain smoke and fires—to prevent them from spreading. East and West Hall dorms were built in 1961 and included central air and heating. The air flow systems operated with inflow vents to each room. A grill, located near the bottom of each door, allowed the air to exit into the halls where the return vents were located. It was not cost efficient to change out the air conditioning units, Rossen said. So to comply with federal requirements, the door vents were sealed and the

contains an individual air and heat transfer unit—fancoil units. The chance of an entire floor of rooms losing air and heat is remote, Rossen said, but not impossible. "Murdaugh's air conditioning units are serviced by a large chillwater compressor pump," Rossen said. "Murdaugh's pump has been repeatedly repaired and replaced. Other problems are the results of old leaky pipes and loose fittings." Lennis Pederson, director of facilities management, said maintenance crews have repeatedly rebuilt pumps and replaced parts on an as-needed basis. "Current construction cost, to replace the air and heat units in each of the three dorms, would be no less than $6 per square foot," Pederson said. That totals out to $1.5 million. Recently, the Oklahoma State Regents of Higher Education allocated $40,000 toward replacing worn-out Chris Beck, Les Staley and Jerry Payne install heat and air equipment on UCO's dorms, Pederson said. The allocation is not enough to replace the inadequate a new fan for an air conditioning unit in West cooling systems, and repairs will continue. The money Hall. (Staff photo by Beth Moxley) was specified for the dorm air conditioning problems and not the classroom problems. return vents had to be modified. Martha Anderson, auxiliary enterprises secretary, Murdaugh Hall was built in 1937, long before central receives the calls when air and heat fails. air units were available. "All I can do is write up the work orders and call Its air conditioning system is different. It works much like the systems seen in motel rooms. Each room V See HEAT, Page 3

State Regents' new web site designed to keep grads in state By Jim Hulsey Staffilfriter

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Guests of honor... UCO President W. Roger Webb and wife, Jeannie Rountree Webb, Inez Miller and Ron Gamba wave to the parade crowd during Saturday's LibertyFest parade. (Staff photo by Sandi Craig)

he Oklahoma Marketplace, a web page of job postings for on and off campus employment, will help university and college graduates find jobs in Oklahoma. The primary goal is to strengthen Oklahoma's economy by helping keep more graduates in the state. Up to 26 percent of Oklahomans who earn bachelor's degrees and 16 percent who earn associate degrees leave the state within five years of graduation, stated a report by the Oklahoma State Regents of Higher Education. In an attempt to keep graduates, the Regents have expanded their academic

programs to prepare Oklahomans for high-paying, high-demand jobs. They also hope to attract businesses to the state and strengthen partnerships with business and industry. The web site's intent is to provide a location for students and graduates to create résumés online, search job listings and instantly match their résumés to current job listings at no cost to students. In addition, the site will allow Oklahoma employers to post and edit unlimited job listings online and review résumés of prospective job candidates by specifying certain search parameters. The website is projected to go online this fall. It will be hosted and maintained by the Regents and accessible through their website at wvvw.okhighered.org-4


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