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CAMPUS

The Norwich Guidon
Jan. 29, 2004

NU facilities workers battle subzero weather to keep campus safer

Danielle Meunier
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

As temperatures plummet below zero, the men and women of Norwich facilities operations struggle with the elements to make the campus clear of snow and ice, according to the superintendent of buildings and grounds.

"You know you have to be outside; you come dressed and prepared for it," said Cathy Laird, a custodian from Barre, Vt. "When the weather is cold, it makes you want to not go out, but you have to, because it's your job."

"This has been an unusual winter so far," Gary Atwood, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, said. "For sanding and salting last year, I think I used around 160 to 170 tons, and I've already used more than that this year."

The crew that works outside stays warm with "warm jackets, coveralls and gloves that the university provides," Atwood said. "They're all told, and they all know that if they get cold, they have to go inside."

However, when bad weather does hit the campus, facilities workers have quite a bit of work to do to maintain the school. Even during winter break, work is being done to maintain the school.

"If [students] are on Christmas break, we still come in here and work," Atwood said.

"We came back Jan. 2," Laird said. "Then the following Monday, it's our regular work schedule."

With the falling temperatures come a lot of work and long hours for facilities employees in order to keep the school maintained and running, Atwood said.

"Sometimes [the buildings and grounds crew is] here seven days a week, 12 to 14 hours a day," Atwood said. "I've seen it in the past; we've gone 20 days without a break, before."

Preparation is done to prevent problems when the winter weather falls below zero.

"That's where the preparation work comes in; you have to make sure the boilers are working," said Mike Ricker, supervisor of utility services. "If it goes down for a couple hours, you're in a lot of trouble."

"Yesterday, we burned about 4,300 gallons of fuel," Ricker said, indicating the enormous amount of fuel it takes to keep the school at a comfortable temperature with freezing weather outside.

"The temperature for any given dorm is a set temperature of 70 to 72 degrees," said Bizhan Yahyazadeh, director of facilities operations. "If it's 40 degrees outside, it takes less fuel to bring it up to 70; if it's 30 below, it takes more fuel to bring it up."

The fuel is conserved to a degree when the students go on their winter break and the temperatures in the dorms only come to 60 degrees, Yahyazadeh said.

There have already been problems with heaters in dorms, Yahyazadeh said. "We had a couple frozen heaters caused by students leaving the window open and leaving the room, and the sub-zero temperatures hit the heater and froze the pipe."

There was another problem with the piping in the Dewey academic building, as well.

"They had done some work on the outside and left some holes in the foundation," Ricker said, explaining that the pipes became so cold that they lost the hot water, but no damage was done.

Utilities are now working on getting a "building automation system that will let them monitor" the buildings and find the problems sooner, Ricker said. This automated monitoring will help a great deal in fixing problems, particularly when students aren't around to call in.

However far off that plan may be, Facilities is still prepared to handle anything the harsh Vermont climate can throw their way.

According to Yahyazadeh, "We plan for it; it is our normal routine."

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be withheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, Northfield, VT 056632. www.norwich.edu/guidon. If you have any questions or comments about the paper, please contact Professor Ken Bush at kbush@norwich.edu.