Brown and White Vol. 130 no. 15

              The Brown and White Vol. 130 No. 15
Friday, April 8, 2016 ‘All the Lehigh News First’
Water on campus tested after lead content concerns
Chalk messages spark debate University
Center to be
renovated
By MEG KELLY
Assistant News Editor
By LANA FABIA
B&W Staff
Michael Ioannou/B&W Staff
Unknown individuals wrote
“Make America Great Again”
and other political slogans
associated with Donald Trump
across campus last week.
The ground is dotted with color
each spring as the changing seasons
give way to budding flowers and
green grass. This week, these bright
hues are popping up in unexpected
places as the walkways around cam-pus
are colored with chalk. Student
groups have taken to the ground to
advertise concerts and lectures as
well as express their political views.
Last week, political slogans were
written in chalk around campus
on Memorial Walkway and several
steps, among other places. Phrases
such as “Trump 2016” and “Make
America Great Again” decorated the
brick. While these chalk messages
can be interpreted as advocating for
a candidate, the messages might be
interpreted as oppressive by those
who feel attacked by some of the
GOP frontrunner’s policies. Trump’s
policies regarding immigration and
torture, as well as his views on abor-tion
and attitude toward women
have been contested.
Concerns regarding these Trump-supporting
chalkings come after pro-tests
at Emory University in which
students argued that similar chalk
messages transcended beyond the
slogans themselves and instead oper-ated
as “racial microaggressions”
against several groups on campus.
The actions resulted in not only
protests, but also discussions about
free speech on college campuses
nationwide.
“(Trump’s) rhetoric and many of
his comments about women, people
of color, Mexicans, the lower class
and Muslims have created hostile
atmospheres for a great majority of
The University Center, originally
named Packer Hall, was the first
building built on campus in 1866.
The bell-tower and Gothic edifice
is considered the face of the univer-sity,
and the historic building will
undergo renovations within the next
few years.
The University Center, which is
home to Upper and Lower Court,
Wells Fargo, administrative offices
and student study spaces, is in the
early planning stages for a long-term
renovation project with ear-
Lexi Berliner/B&W Staff
Water from various locations on campus has been collected and sent to M. J. Reider Associates, Inc. for
testing. Reports of high lead content in water near Lehigh have caused concern.
By CATHERINE MANTHORP
B&W Staff
After concerns about high lev-els
of lead in water in the Lehigh
Valley, Lehigh University collect-ed
water samples from residence
halls and academic buildings to
test the lead content in the water
that students, faculty, staff and
visitors use while on campus.
Lehigh’s Environmental Health
and Safety Department began col-lecting
water samples in accor-dance
with the Environmental
Protection Agency testing proto-cols
Friday.
Barb Plohocki, the director of
environmental health and safety
for the past 15 years, wrote an
email the day before testing began
to students and staff to relay
that recent testing completed by
the City of Bethlehem indicated
lead levels are within the stan-dards
set by the Environmental
Protection Agency. She believed
it was important to test the water
on campus for safety reasons.
“Our goal with these proactive
programs is to maintain a healthy
and safe campus environment,”
Plohocki said.
She said her department has
not heard of any water quali-ty
issues on campus. She also
said if there were cases of brown
water, the discolored water could
be caused by a number of factors.
Because of this, she believes it is
necessary to test the water.
Three members of Pi Beta Phi
sorority, Alexandra Rankin, ’18,
Courtney Bell, ’17, and Astrid
Phillipson, ’17, said water in Pi
Beta Phi’s house on the Hill was
brown for a day a few months ago.
Bell said the water turned brown
during recruitment in January.
Phillipson said there were trac-es
of brown in every source of
water throughout the house, and
the discoloration was especially
noticeable in the toilet bowls. She
said the color discouraged peo-ple
from showering because they
worried it was dirty. None of the
women were aware if Lehigh had
been notified about the water’s
color change.
“I think it’s something that
should be paid attention to more
and monitored if we’re paying for
nicer facilities,” Phillipson said.
“I thought it was pretty gross.”
Bell, who is also a Bethlehem
resident, said she has experi-enced
brown water in her family
home a few times, and it typically
goes away within a day or two.
She said she thinks the discolored
water is safe to use, but she still
tries to avoid using it until it is
clear.
Environmental engineering
professor Arup SenGupta said the
brown coloring of water does not
mean there is lead in the water
because lead is colorless, odor-less
and tasteless. He said the
pipes carrying the water may be
corrosive, and this could lead to
corrosive water and increase the
chances of lead in the water.
SenGupta researches water sci-ence
and technology nationwide
and concentrates on treatment
technology of lead. He said lead
problems arise for the most part
in developed countries in older
buildings that have joints, such
as pipes, with lead in them. He
See WATER Page 4
See CHALK Page 3 See UC Page 2
“The problem
we are having
locally is more a
problem of
infrastructure.”
-Dr. Jennifer Janco