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Pasadena City College
Pasadena, California
Vol.74 No. 13
lbe COURIER
Thursday
December 19, 1991
College gets award
for energy savings
By ENRICO PIAZZA
Staff Writer
In recognition of its improved environ¬
ment protection policy, PCC was awarded a
check for$15,307 from theCity of Pasadena.
The environment protection policy helped
the school reduce hazardous wastes and
save on utility bills by reducing the amount
of pollution that the City of Pasadena, who
owns its electrical plant, generates to pro¬
duce energy.
The money came as part of a program
by which the City reimburses institutions
some of the costs they encounter in order to
become more energ-efficient.
According to Ernest Church, director of
PCC facilities and engineering services, the
positive results are a consequence of the
installation of new fluorescent lights which
burn cooler, longer and produce an in¬
creased lighting standard in the classrooms.
Already at work in the
С, К
and W Buildings,
the new lights will eventually replace all the
old ones as soon as funds are sufficient.
“It’s a fairly expensive project,” Church
said,” but the pay back is immediate,” he
added. During the course of 1990 the
school was able to save $47,000 in electric
bills alone, which in turn, spared the
environment 63 tons of carbon dioxide
that result from producing that much
energy. “It’s a win-win situation,” com¬
mented Church, and stressed that “it’s good
for the students, the school, and the environ¬
ment.”
In addition, the newly installed lights
don’t contain any polychlorinated biphen¬
yls, PCB, a harmful substance, in their
ballasts. These are devices that act as trans¬
formers.
The school is also planning to
modernize all the air-handlers that distrib¬
ute the cooling and heating air on campus.
According to Church, newer models are so
much cheaper to operate that they pay for
themselves in less then two years.
The city of Pasadena has recently in¬
stalled, at no cost to the school, water¬
saving shower heads in both the the men
and women’s gyms. Each shower will
finally be able to be turned on
individually, and operate with less water
waste.
Air conditioning dust
irritates employees’ eyes
By V. WADE CONTRERAS
Staff Writer
Human resources employees in C2 15 are
complaining about eye irritation from dust,
according to reports from campus police.
Chris Santillan, supervisor of energy serv¬
ices, said the dust is beleived to be coming
from air conditioning ducts that need to be
cleaned in the building.
According to Santillan, a quote for the
expenses needed to clean the ducts will be
obtained soon. Actual completion of the job,
however, may take some time. Santillan said
as far as she knows no employees have
missed work because of eye irritation.
“My supervisor is on vacation. When he
returns we will have to assess how the ex¬
penses fit in with the budget,” Santillan said.
Sgt. Vincent Palermo, college safety, said
he first learned about the problem when he
received a call from an employee who said
her eyes were stinging while at work.
“I called over to facilities and asked if
they had done anything recently in the build¬
ing that might be the cause. I was told they
had installed some new lighting,” Palermo
said.
John Lindemann, lead person in building
services, would not specify what the prob¬
lem was. His only comment was, “It’s noth¬
ing about the lights.”
Melinda Polo, coordinator of human
resources, refused to comment on the nature
of employees’ complaints. ‘The situation
has been addressed by facilities,” she said.
Santillan said 80 percent of the ducts in
the D building have recently been cleaned
at a cost of almost $15,000. Other build¬
ings’ ducts are yet to be cleaned, she said.
“I see it as one part of what we have to ac¬
complish on campus,” she said.
Tales of Christmas present
Photo by Scott Daves/ The COURIER
Does the spirit of Christmas reach into the slums of Los Angeles’s streets? The homeless try to celebrate
the season while two tiny tots perch on Santa’s lap in a suburban mall
Computer center offers students technology of today
Photo by Howard Burger/ The COURIER
The instructional computer center located in D1 1 3-D1 1 6 can always be seen full of students diligently typing research papers.
Assistance is always available. Non peak hours for the center are Monday through Thursday 3 to 5 p.m. and 8 to 1 1 p.m.
By CHRIS LANGREHR
Opinion Editor
- Enough
Second of two computers exist
part series at PCC for all
- students who
need these resources to complete their school
assignments on time. Alhough finding a
computer on campus can be difficult at times,
there are hours when many computers are
not being used by students. Therefore, stu¬
dents need to start their computer assig-
mcnts well before they are due and need to
make use of computer resources during non ¬
peak hours.
“There are times when all students who
want to use computers cannot find them.
However, there are times when the comput¬
ers at PCC for students are not being used
1 00 percent. As long as this is the case, I can
assume there are enough computers on campus
for all students.” said Robert Cody, assistant
dean of instructional computer services. For
example, on Friday from 2 p.m. to 4. p.m.
the computer labs are almost empty.
The best analogy for the computer situ¬
ation at PCC is the use of electricity by
utility consumers during peak summer hours.
Consumers are told to use electric appli¬
ances in morning and evening hours in order
to be guaranteed adequate electricity. For
the same reasons, students should use cam¬
pus computer resources during non-peak
hours in order to guarantee that they receive
adequate computing time, Cody said.
“Peak demand for computers will occa¬
sionally exceed the supply of these resources.
However, I think we are close to achieving a
balance between peak demand and having
too many computers on campus,” said Cody.
In order to offer a higher level of service
to students, the instructional computer cen¬
ter considered expanding computer lab hours
to include Sunday, but found itcannot afford
to do this. “Solving the problem of not
enough computers on campus is not as easy
as hiring somebody for a few hours. We are
stretched to the limit in terms of the number
of staff members we have. We would have
to hire another full-time person in order to be
open on Sundays. This is a pretty heavy
financial commitment,” Cody said.
Another problem area is a shortage of
new computers that run current software
programs. A lot of the new software appli¬
cations will not run on old machines. “As
we make a transition from the old computers
to the new computers, meeting the needs of
the person who needs a new computer will
be a sticking point for another year,” Cody
Please see Network, page 4
