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Power CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Goode said the research center contains 20 refrigerators that mea sure 3 feet by 8 feet tall and require a constant temperature of 94 de grees below zero. Inside these re frigerators are enzymes and oth er biochemical preparations that rely on specific temperatures. The lack of electricity jeopardized these materials. Graduate students and profes sors alike tried to combat the warming refrigerators with the re sources on hand: dry ice. They shoveled the substance, which can • nly exist at 100 degrees below zero, for several hours. “It took us about four or five hours to get everything stabi lized,” said James Sodetz, a chem istry professor. Sodetz said it was a primary concern that the reagents within the refrigerators were relocated from the labs to “cold rooms.” So professors and graduate students worked into the evening hours, using flashlights to guide their way through the dark until the materials were temporarily se cured. “I thought we would be out for the week,” Sodetz said. During the dry-ice shoveling and reagent relocation, USC’s Department of Energy Services was fast at work trying to solve the power outage. By 4:30 p.m., Cecil Sheppard, manager of High Voltage and Utilities, had located the problem and disconnected the research center from the power grid, Goode said. Charles Stevenson, assistant di rector of Energy Services, said the cable that caused problems was probably damaged by the contrac tor laying the wire when the cen ter was built in May 2000. A cable with damaged insulation would be more likely to short-circuit than a fully insulated wire. By 7 p.m., Sheppard was able have a portable generator—an 18 wheeler with a separate diesel-fuel truck — on site at the research center. To put this machine in per spective, Stevenson said the 1,850 kilowatt generator could provide 123 average-sized homes with pow er. By 10:30 p.m., the generator was functioning and providing the building with the much-needed electricity. But the generator was only a short-term solution; Dennis Gallagher of the department of maintenance and building modi fication and an electrical crew were busy rewiring the building. Stevenson said that between the initial loss of power on Sunday and 11 p.m. on Monday, the elec trical crew pulled out 4,800 feet of wiring — nearly a mile — with a boom truck and then rewired just as much. With an electrical outage of this magnitude and no compara ble events in the last three years, professors are gushing with grat itude to those who restored the power. “Everybody was astonished at the efforts of this small group of people who worked around the clock until we were back in busi ness,” Goode said. “The depart ment is so thankful we could get online in just one day.” Sodetz echoed Goode’s senti ments. • “We are very pleased with the fact they were able to get a large generator and how quickly the permanent repair occurred,” Sodetz said. As for Sheppard and Gallagher, who were both unavailable for comment, and the electrical crew, Stevenson applauded their ac complishment. “We have a good staff,” Stevenson said. “They are a bunch of super giiys.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com •First genetically altered pet faces challenge in California BY DON THOMPSON THE ASSOCIATED,PRESS SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - The na tion’s first genetically altered household pet is set to begin ap pearing in stores next month ev erywhere except perhaps California, the only state with a ban on lab-engineered species. On Wednesday, the California Fish and Game Commission is scheduled to take up an applica tion from Yorktown Technologies of Austin, Texas, to market the GloFish in California. *. State wildlife officials have con cluded that the Florida-grown flu orescent zebra fish poses no dan ger and have recommended that the state exempt it from the ban. Environmental and public inter est groups, along with commercial fishermen, oppose an exemption. The GloFish was developed by scientists in Singapore who found they could turn the normally black-and-silver zebra fish green or red by inserting genes from jel lyfish or a sea anemone. The trop ical fish appear to glow in rooms lit with ultraviolet or black light. California’s regulations against what critics call “Frankenfish” were prompted by fears that ge netically altered farmed fish such as salmon could get loose and dev astate the state’s wild populations. The fluorescent fish, however, are even less tolerant of cold wa ter than natural zebra fish and are unlikely to survive if they escape, the Fish and Game Department said in recommending an exemp tion. Independent researchers also found that no harm would come from eating the fish. Some environmentalists fear Glofish could establish themselves in Warm waters in the wild. But their larger fear is that the GloFish’s introduction could open the floodgates on other genetically engineered species. The Washington-based Center for Food Safety, along with the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and oth ers, is pressing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the marketing of such creatures. Federal agencies say they have no jurisdiction. Unlike, for in stance, bio-engineered salmon, ze bra fish are not intended as food, so the FDA says it has no power to regulate. The Environmental Protection Agency, Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of Agriculture have also passed. Yorktown Technologies President Alan Blake has given as surances that GloFish are safe even if flushed down the toilet, dumped into the local swimming hole or eaten by a house cat or a 2-year-old. The company plans to market its GloFish in other states, whether or not California gives it approval. That is why opponents are pressing for federal regulation. “What California says is going to make very little difference in the long run if all the other states are going to allow them,” said Peter Jenkins, an attorney and policy analyst with the Center for Food Safety. 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AIDS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Zachery Scott was among the stu dent representatives who spoke before the quilt-bearing column marched on the capitol, and un til he was called to the podium, he drifted through the crowd, bobbing his head with the music. “This is a disease that’s affect ing all communities,” he said, ' “and if we don’t take some steps now to quell it, it’s going to swell into something much worse.” He told his audience he’d been participating in the event for three years. “It’s our responsibility as a generation to hold onto this,” he said. “Every year, you see the quilts grow and the messages change.” Stacey Gladden, a student at Southern Wesleyan University, spoke about her own experience with AIDS. “You don’t have to be gay to contract AIDS,” she said. “I con tracted AIDS from my husband.” Gladden, an employee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, was able to speak on the subject without too much difficulty. “It’s not too hard. I think I was a little nervous,” she said. “I wish we could do more in terms of money. I wish we could do more for people without insurance.” Although Gladden was in sured through her job, she said that many victims of AIDS aren’t so lucky and that many employ ers aren’t as understanding about the disease. After the initial speeches were over, students marched to the State House, carefully maneu vering around lighting equip ment and TV cameras up the steps. There they sat and listened to a presentation sponsored by the S.C. Christian Action Council, the Midlands HIV Prevention Collaboration and the Trinity Outreach Mission. Scott Hawkins of WIS-TV 10 presided over the program, which included two speakers, as well as a step performance by the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and •• • — - live music and spoken word by Venom’s Band. The program at {he State House concluded with a candlelight procession around the grounds. A few people, though, filed into the Trinity Episcopal Church for a special requiem service. Participants sang hymns, heard readings of T.S. Eliot, Gerard Manley Hopkins and the Gospel of St. John and listened to a per formance by the church choir. Janice Boan, a fourth-year music student and member of the choir, said she enjoyed the service. “I really like things that bring together different groups in the community. It’s really uplifting,” she said. “We’ve really been look ing forward to this.” Matthew Whitehouse, a third year music student and choir member, agreed with Boan. “AIDS is such a huge problem,’ not just locally, but worldwide, that it’s good to be able to do something about it,” he said. 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