LehighWeek Volume 07, Issue 16

              New computers save money and
are more powerful
See page 2
Faculty offer views on teaching and
learning
See page 4
A look inside the bookstore - more
than just books
Seepages
Lehigh SINKS Lafayette
Both the men's and women's
team swam to victories against
Lafayette.
Men's team 169-72
Women's team won 177-54
See South Mountaineer
Sping is only 49 days away!
Seepage 12
Volume 7, Issue 16
LEHIGH UNIVERSITY
February 1,1994
LEHIGHWEEK
Plus SOUTH MOUNTAINEER
Oil shutdown narrowly averted
By RITA MALONE, Writers' Group
Thanks to a break in
the weather last
Friday and the hard
work of the facilities
services staff, a shutdown of
the student residence halls
due to a lack of heating oil
was narrowly averted. The
stockpile of oil at the central
heating plant had dwindled
to a three-day supply by Jan.
27 when emergency plans
were developed to deal with
the crisis. UGI (the gas
company) agreed to allow
Lehigh to use natural gas
during the weekend to heat
the buildings. (Lehigh has
an "interruptible hookup"
which allows it to use gas
during the year when
demand is low; the
university switches to oil
each fall. The cost for the
natural gas now is four
times the summer price.)
The oil shortage was
the result of cumulative
problems related to the
severe January weather,
coupled with high usage
of oil on campus due to the
record-low temperatures,
according to Tony
Corrallo, assistant vice
president for facilities
services. Ice hampered oil
barges travelling up the
Delaware River to the
refinery; severe cold
weather caused equipment
malfunctions at the refinery;
then snow and icy roads
prevented delivery trucks
from travelling to Lehigh
from Philadelphia.
"What is normally
a two-hour trip from
Philadelphia for the oil trucks
became a six-hour trip due to
the weather," said Corrallo.
When only one of the six
expected trucks arrived Jan.
27, the decision was made to
lower the temperature in all
university buildings to
conserve oil.
"The relatively warmer
weather (on Friday, 1/28) has
reduced our oil consumption
down to about 4,000 gallons
(from a high of about 7,000
gallons a day) at both central
heating plants," said Gary
Falasca, director of physical
plant. "This, plus the two-
day supply of natural gas,
should hold us over until the
oil trucks arrive."
RESCHEDULING CLASSES
The registrar's staff is
developing several options to
deal with the rash of
cancelled classes due to the
Stabler becomes smoke-free
By BARBARA LEE, Writers' Group _
Ever since Stabler
Center opened its doors in
1979, smoking has not been
permitted in the arena
proper, but has been allowed
in both upper and lower
hallways, restrooms and
lobbies...until now. The staff
at Stabler plan to implement a smoking ban throughout the
arena this spring.
"The smoking policy at Stabler just isn't working," said
Rich Fritz, director of the center. "We've had a hard time
enforcing it, and non-smokers cannot go anywhere to avoid
the smoke."
With the current policy, patrons are inconvenienced by
smoke that fills the hallways, restrooms and concession
areas prior to an event and during intermission. And while
generally there is no smoking during athletic or other events
when the lights are on, whenever the lights are out, people
a
I have nothing against smokers.
But with the information we have about
second-hand smoke, its just not safe to
smoke in a public place anymore.
Richard Fritz
violate the policy by smoking
at their seats. "People even
smoke on the floor," said
Fritz, who noted that a very
expensive tarp covering used
for basketball games has
more than a thousand holes
from cigarette butts.
Fritz said he and his staff have been considering the
measure ever since he attended the annual meeting of the
International Association of Auditorium Managers last
summer, where he discovered that more than70 percent of
university arenas already have a smoking ban in place.
Because Stabler does not have any rooms or other areas
that could be designated for smoking, management decided it
was time for the ban. Stabler's concert promoter, Electric
Factory Concerts, is fully supportive of the measure, as are the
American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and
the Coalition for A Smoke-Free Valley.
weather. The registration
and drop/add period has
been extended to Wed.,
Feb. 2.
Two full days of classes
have already been missed,
and there have been two late
starts and two early closings.
"Faculty and students
have the option of
independently scheduling
make-up classes," said
Registrar Bruce Correll.
"We are also developing
some options for the
provost's council to consider
on university-wide make-up
time for faculty who feel it
is appropriate for their
courses."
One proposal under
serious consideration is the
use of pacing break (Feb. 21-
22) to make-up graduate
evening classes that were
cancelled. Most graduate
evening classes meet once
a week for three hours.
Those classes meeting on
Thursday evenings have
already missed two of their
14 classes. An option for
undergraduate courses is
the use of a Saturday to
hold classes for those faculty
to who wish to reschedule
their lectures. A decision is
expected soon from the
provost's council.
"These are options for
the faculty," Correll
continued. "We want to
make sure the students get
the educational value for
their dollars."  .
LEHIGH UNIVERSITY
Lehigh Week Office
Linderman Library
30 Library Drive
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015-3067
'HILIP   A.   METZGER
JNIVERSITY   LIBRARIES
IM.201
.INOERMAN LIBRARY
NO.030
NON-PROFIT
U.S. Postage Paid
Permit No. 230
Bethlehem, Pa. 18015