library
DECO 6
ATLANTIC
CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
^jmrss
Dr. Doster cnts ribbon to start new solar energy progam.
ACC Part of Solar Energy Project
By MILTON ROGERSON
Solar energy may soon play a
vital role in wastewater and
sewage treatment for the City of
Wilson if an experimental pro
ject now being conducted by the
city and Atlantic Christian Col
lege proves successful.
Not only would the city be in a
position to conserve expensive
electrical energy, it could sub
stantially reduce labor and other
processing costs. Savings could
amount to thousands of dollars
per year.
The project involves drying
digested sludge in the sewage
treatment process through the
use of solar energy. While on
the surface the process sounds
to be of little importance, in
reality it is a very necessary and
expensive phase of a rather
complicated process.
Site for the project is at the
Hominy Creek Wastewater
Management Facility located
two miles south of Wilson. It is a
new plant incorporating most of
the latest “state of the art
techniques,” capable of hand
ling 12 million gallons of waste
water a day.
The facility has two methods
of drying digested sludge -
sludge drying beds, and sludge
dewatering centrifuging.
The drying bed method utili
zes artificial layers of porous
material upon which digested
s udge is dried by drainage and
^''aporation. This method is
"sed for those months when
weather is favorable.
The centrifuging method is
“tilized during the incliment
"'father months.
A comparison of the costs of
the two systems reveals drama
tically why the City of Wilson is
'oterested in the solar experi-
’"ent. Through the centrifuge
Method of drying sludge, the
cost is $169 per ton. The dry bed
method costs $6 per ton.
At an average of 75 dried tons
of sludge per month, the com
parative costs of the two me
thods are $450 for dry bed and
$12,675 for centrifuge, a dif
ference of $12,275. Any exten
sion of the dry bed methodology
into the months when the cen
trifuge process is necessary
would yield significant economy
in costs of operation.
In the drying bed method, a
solution of 95 percent water and
five percent solids in digested
sludge is dispersed over beds
consisting of a layer of graded
gravel under a layer of clear
sand. The major portion of the
water is drained in the first
15-18 hours.
The problem arises in the
further drying process through
evaporation and takes an aver
age of three to four weeks under
favorable weather conditions.
News Briefs
The rate of evaporation is totally
unpredictable during the winter
months necessitating the cen
trifuge process.
If the rate of evaporation can
be made predictable by heating
the sludge beds, the dewatering
centrifuge process would not
have to be utilized as often, if at
all,and significant economies
could be realized.
It is at this point where solar
energy would be utilized- to
heat the drying beds from the
bottom to speed up the drying
process. In the conventional
sludge bed, water is evaporated
from the top. Through the solar
energy process, heating panels
and grills on the bottom of the
bed would speed the process by
literally cooking the bottom
portion of the sludge. The
sludge could then be removed
from the bed somewhat like a
brownie.
Cont. on pg. 7
Extended Visitation
Passes Test
Dean Gordon Joyner told the
Collegiate that there seemed to
be "no apathy here,” when it
comes to extended visitation.
The recent events concerning
extended visitation have Joyner
praising the A.C. on-campus
students for showing a real
interest in something which
concerns them.
Joyner and the Student Cen
ter Committee recently com
pleted a study on the extended
visitation and the results were
turned over to the Collegiate.
According to the study, since
the trial period of 30 to 60 days
went into effect on October 23,
almost 52% of the dorm stu
dents participated in visitation,
over half of these had visitors
during the extended period. The
only real complaints which were
voiced by the students con
cerned visitation on Sunday
night from 8-10 p.m. and on
Friday and Saturday from 12
midnight to 1 a.m. A total of 42
students did not like the Sunday
night period, while only 14
complained about the Friday
and Saturday periods.
The voter response and t^ie
participation of dorm students
in extended visitation was satis
factory enough to meet two of
the three criteria necessary for
the proposed extension to go
through. According to the
agreement made prior to the
trial period, it was agreed that
at least three-fourths of the
on-campus population must vote
in favor of the extended visita-
EXCU5E ME, MA'AM,BUT
THERE'5 ONLV 14 MORE
5M0PPING
PAV5 'TIL
CHRISTMAS'
Here and There
It’s been a month now and
still no clues on the whereabouts
of S.G.A. president, Don Berry.
Wilson police are still investiga
ting the mystery.
It seems as if everthing has to
happen and is happening be
tween now and Christmas. In
the midst of it all you are invited
to celebrate Christmas in wor
ship on Tuesday morning, Dec
ember 12, in Howard Chap^
The service will begin at 11:
a.m. and wUl conclude by
a.m.
Attention all Christians!
Please remember to be in
deep prayer for Marilyn Spinale
as she is in the hospital this
holiday.
Have any good ideas for a
theme for Homecoming ’79?
Your ideas are needed for a
super start. Please turn them
over to Zeb Whitehurst, Direc
tor of College Relations, in the
Administration Building.
tion proposal. Although on
71.8% of the students did, in
fact, vote for the proposal, only
2.8% voted against it, the rest
not voting. Joyner felt that this
majority was substantial enough
to pass the pro[X)saI.
The second critieria stated
that at least 25% of the students
must participate in the extended
visitation by visiting or hosting,
or the proposal would fail. Since
38.6%(309 students) did parti
cipate, this requirement was
met as well.
The third obstacle to the plan,
though, is very important, ii
was agreed that the extended
hours should in no way cost the
college any extra money, such
as, for paying R.A.’s to work
extra hours. Joyner told the
Collegiate that if extended
visitation should begin to cost
the college, it would have to
cease.
So, for now, the students have
extended visitation. Joyner
urged the student body to make
sure that they can keep it, by
making sure that any extra costs
were paid for, in some way. If
not, then the old visitation hours
will again come into effect.
Joyner also urged the student
body to remain active in campus
activities. The Dean of Students
told the Collegiate that he hoped
the students would follow
through in other issues as well.
Joyner stated that he trusts the
students’ judgment, and that he
hoped the students would con
tinue to get things out in the
open for debate.
New visitation hours are as
follows:
Friday 7:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Saturday 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
8:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Sunday 1:00 p.m. • 5:00 p.m.
8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
The trial of Betty Lou Johnson
continues this week. A leading
state Republican, she is on trial
for the July shooting death of
her prominent husband. Dr.
Archie T. Johnson, Jr.
A Rocky Mount policeman
was fired Tuesday and thirteen
others were reprimanded for
their roles in circulating a
racially offensive piece of mat
erial. The fake high school
competency test that the police
men cimilated contained slurs
against blacks.
DORMITORYS CLOSE FOR
CHRISTMAS BREAK
Wedesday, December 20, at
8:00 pm. Dorms will reopen on
Sunday January, 7 at 2:00 pm.
Could it be possible gas prices
are on the rise before Christmas
trips begin? The answer is
“yes” according to industry
analysts who predict motorists
will be paying a couple of cents
more per gallon of gas within a
week.