The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 03, 2003, Page 3, Image 3
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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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.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockudesk@hotmail.com
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