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The LRnc£
DeTamble reopens
by Sabina Winterniz
When the DeTamble Library closed early on Thurs
day, Sept.5 for Hurricane Fran, the librarians were hop
ing they would be fully operational the next day, or Mon
day Sept. 9 the at the latest.
By turning off the Thirty-three-year-old transformer,
the employees had hoped to protect DeTamble’s electri
cal source. However, when the Physical Plant attempted
to turn the appliance back on Friday, the transformer mal
functioned, causing a complete blackout in the library for
almost two weeks.
Many problems arose due to the blackout. The
library’s 108,000+ volumes lived in stale, hot, moist air,
causing mold to grow on the outside bindings and edges.
DeTamble was forced to close at five o’clock every
evening, whereby giving students little or no nighttime
reasearch time. Also, over 100 work-study hours have
been lost.
Finally, on Wednesday, September eighteenth, the
new transformer was functional and the DeTamble Li
brary was running again. Only one question remains: how
long will it take to mold-dust 108,000 books?
Centennial Celebration on Sunday
by Donna Sammander
On September 30, St.
Andrews will celebrate an event
that has been a century in the
making with the Centennial
Convocation.
Beginning this Friday, we
will commemorate the found
ing of Flora MacDonald Col
lege, one of St. Andrews pre
decessor schools, and our cam
pus will play host to a number
of special guests.
The day will kick off with
a formal academic processional
at 11;00 AM. More than 75
alumni will march, representing
classes from 1936 to 1996.
David MacDonald, the great-
great-great grandson of the real
Scottish heroine Flora
MacDonald, will be a featured
speaker, as will former Cana
dian Parliament Member Flora
MacDonald. (She is another,
not-so-direct descendant of the
original Flora.)
During the convocation,
St. Andrews will also present
four honorary degrees to some
very distinguished Flora
MacDonald, Presbyterian Jun
ior College, and St. Andrews
alums. They are;
Billy Howard, ’77 of At
lanta. He is renowned photog
rapher whose works were
among those featured at the
opening ceremonies of the At
lanta Games.
Peggy Harris Cleveland
’47 of Concord, NC. Peggy is
the recently retired exective di
rector of the Cabarrus Coopera
tive Christian Ministr>'.
Charles McCoy, ’42 of
Berkeley, CA, a professor of
ethics at the Pacific School of
Religion.
Flora MacDonald, the
aforementioned Canadian cabi
net minister and parliamentar
ian.
These four will also hold
a public forum at 3:00 pm in
Avinger Auditorium, concern
ing the importance of the lib
eral arts education. At 4:00, re
ception is scheduled on Avinger
Terrace.
The weekend, which will
end in a St. Andrews Sunday
worship service at Laurinburg
Presbyterian Church, is the cul
mination of a century’s hard
work and creativity. Talk about
anticipation...
Students, faculty, fought to save gym roof from Fran
GYM from front page
what they were hearing. It was the sound
of large clumps of the foam rubber roof
being blown off The group could see
the clumps covering the lawns on all
sides of the-building.
Perron immediately began making
phone calls in an attempt to begin dam
age control, with an eye toward saving
the gym floor. Carl Ullrich received a
call and rode over on his bike in the
middle of the storm to do what he could.
Perron also called Physical Plant, but the
response was not as timely as there were
several other complaints to attend to at
the time.
But this was just when student ef
fort began to come into play. Sopho
more Jason Hamililton lead a group of
students that pounded on the door and
offered to help. Resident Advisors and
Area Coordinators spread the word to
students. People brought trash cans to
try and save the gym floor. A majority
of those involved at this point were stu
dents. What Joss found most surprising
was that at least one representative from
every sport was there, even soccer, base
ball, and tennis players, who rarely use
the gym they were helping to save. Joss
said that he has seen places where that
kind of support among different teams
just isn’t there, and he’s pleased to see it
at St. Andrews.
An effort was even made to get the
tarp which is used during ceremonies in
the gym to protect the floor. Athlete
Larry Watkins, Perron and Joss lead the
effort to break into the cage where the
tarp is kept as no one had the key. They
were successful in getting the tarp out
and putting it down, but the damage had
already been done.
Despite all the hard work, the gym
floor was badly damaged. The next day,
the true clean-up effort began. While
work was done throughout the campus
and community, the most focused effort
was in and around the PE center. Stu
dents, faculty and staff came together on
a large scale.
Ullrich estimates that there
were at least 60 students and staff up on
the roof replacing the tarp to prevent ad
ditional water from seeping in. Profes
sor William Loftus was impressed by the
community effort made and by the num
ber of people working and sweating to
get the clean-up done. He called this
“an example of what community really
means.”
All that is left is to wait for
word from the insurance company. The
work will depend on the agreement be
tween the contractor and the insurance
company. Before anything can be done
on the floor, the roof must be taken care
of. There is some discussion as to the
best type of roof (flat roofs often have
greater problems with water damage,)
but Ullrich predicts
that a flat roof will be
all the insurance
company will agree
to pay for. The ma
terials will likely be
very similar to the
old roofs because
they have to be very
light. Once the roof
is completed, it will
be approximately six
to eight weeks be
fore the floor is re
placed.
Currently,
volleyball is the only
sport to be affected
on a large scale by
the incident. The
volleyball team has
been forced to play
games away that
were to be played at home. They are
currently playing home games at the
Scotland High School gym, with van
transportation provided for fans. The
plans are now for them to play in the
small gym once the floor has been re
finished. (For more details, see “Vol
leyball Triumphs” in the sports section.)
Just one view of the damage caused by Hurricane Fran.
Photo courtesy of Rooney Coffman