The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 1, 1981 Page: 1 of 16
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Carrington defends library cuts
by Rob Schultz
Head librarian Samuel Carrington faced the SA
senate last Monday, but the expected sharp debate
over decreased library hours and increased copier
costs never materialized. Carrington said that rising
cost for student assistants and increased demands
for funds from the art and music libraries have forced
the shortening of hours, in an effort to save money.
Carrington emphasized that the hour cuts were
made only after extensive statistical study of the
number of people in the building at specific times
showed that, on the average, only eight people used
the library between 11 p.m. and midnight. Members
of the senate argued that student use of the library
increases at peak times during the year, to which
Carrington replied that if demand for library use rises
at any specific time, he will keep the building open
later.
Wiess junior James Donnell presented Carrington
with petitions signed by over 600 students, demanding
that the library remain open not only until midnight
but also to 2 a.m. Carrington accepted Donell's
petitions but said that in order for the library to
remain open later that "students must demonstrate a
need through use and not petitions." Donnell then
insisted that the petitions should suffice as a reason to
lengthen library hours to which Carrington replied,
"Get those 600 people in the library. Show a
demonstrated need."
As far as copier costs, Carrington cited increased
maintenance and paper fees as the major reasons for
see SA, page 6
I
Carrington accepts petitions from James Donnell
-M. Gladu
THRESHER
Volume 69, number 8
Thursday, October 1, 1981
INSIDE:
• Owls sharpen claws, lose by
only 14 this time, p. 11
• Rice players open with The
Skin of Our Teeth, p. 7
• Lots going on This Week, p. 9
• Catch up on all the Intramural
action, p. 13
Fire ravages chemistry lab, no one seriously hurt
by Tom Morgan
and Anita Gonzalez
Four graduate chemistry
students barely escaped injury
Tuesday morning when a fire
exploded in a second story lab of
the chemistry building. Thirty
additional people were evacuated.
Fortunately, the explosion
occurred during lunch, and there
were relatively few people in the
building. According to District
Fire Chief T. G. Collins, the fire
was caused by a chemical
explosion of several reagents
stored within a refrigerator of the
lab. The financial loss due to the
fire is not yet known, but
Department Chairman Edward
Lewis estimated that it will
probably run in the high six-
figures.
Sharon Baughman, Doug
Horsey, Dalen Keys, and Dale
Gerth, the graduate students
working in the lab at the time of the
explosion, lost much of their data
and research. It will take from
The first trace of smoke billows out of the Chemistry Building as fire broke out in
Minutes later, six firefighting units and close to a hundred spectators arrived
three to six months to reproduce
their work. Explained Keys, "We
were working up there (in the lab)
today salvaging whatever we
Little, Jordan win seats
Beth Little
Sophomore Beth Little and
junior Jonathan Jordan won
landslide victories in two all-
school elections held yesterday.
Little assumes the position of
Student Association secretary
easily outdistancing sophomore
David Phillips and freshman
Susan Sample for the job. Jordan
becomes the new vice-president of
the Rice Program Council, with a
closer but still easy win over
freshman Sherry Wyatt.
In other ^races, with all
candidates running unopposed,
Goya Quails will become senior
representative to the Honor
Council, while junior Anne
Chang,won the Off-campus SA
senator position and senior Pat
Campbell takes over as RPC
secretary-treasurer.
Jonathan Jordan
SA Secretary
Beth Little
Susan Sample
David Phillips
Other
RPC Vice President
Jonathan Jordan
Sherry Wyatt
Other
402
169
160
49
407
268
69
could. We did lose a lot of
equipment."
Keys reported seeing a "big
orange ball with black smoke,"
when the explosion occured. The
flames leaped to the top of the 15 to
20 foot ceiling and covered a foot-
wide aisle and a four-foot wide lab
desk.
a second story lab Tuesday morning,
on the scene. —B. Davies
Lewis' secretary, Carolyn
Shannon, called the Campus Police
as soon as the explosion occured.
about 11:45 a.m. The Campos
immediately alerted the Fire
Department. Six firefighting units,
including a special chemical foam
squad arrived 10-15 minutes later,
and according to firefighter L.E.
Hot and muggy weather greeted the approximately two hundred
faculty, students, and alumni who came to witness the official dedication
of rennovated Anderson Hall last Sunday. The cerenjony was presided
over by School of Architecture De^in O. Jack Mitchell. Above, Josephine
Abercrombie, a member of Rice's Board of Governors and chairman of the
Building and Grounds Committee, addresses the crowd —M. Gladu
Novakoski, the blaze took about
ten minutes to bring undercontrol.
"It's (the lab) a mess. It's
completely destroyed." said
Novakoski. The firefighters had to
break some of the windows on the
second floor to allow ventilation.
They originally approached the
fire with some trepidation, because
they did not know the nature of the
chemicals that caused the
explosion. However, they were
able to extinguish the blaze with
water only.
The exact cause of the
explosion has yet to be found,
although there are several
hypotheses. According to t he-
graduate students, none of the
chemicals should have exploded,
as most of them were organic
solvents such as hydrogen
peroxide. The refrigerator in
which the chemicals were stored
malfunctioned a month earlier,
and a physical plant maintenance
crew repaired it.
The lab is technically under the
supervision of Dr. Paul Engel, who
is researching at UCLA now.
When informed of the explosion.
Engel was naturally upset,
however he intends to rebuild the
lab and has already reordered the
chemicals to do so.
"We just have to get it back
together and clean up."
commented Engel. The cost of
repairing the building and
replacing the materials and
equipment will be covered by
insurance. The research, however,
was covered by a grant and
therefore many man hours were
lost.
The chemistry building has been
plagued with safety and
overcrowding problems in the
past. Chemistry Professor Barrie
Sosinsky complained to the
University Safety Committee in
May 1980 about the lack of "vital"
safety equipment and about leaky
fume hoods. Safety Com mi tee
member and chemistry Professor
Ron Parry reinforced those
worries, remarking then, "I'm
surprised something hasn't
happened already. I am surprised,
for example, that half the building
hasn't burned down. As far as I'm
concerned, it's only a matter of
time before it does."
Most of the unsafe conditions in
the chemistry building had been
see Fire, page 5
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Davies, Bruce. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 1, 1981, newspaper, October 1, 1981; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245480/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.