Miami Hurricane, September 11, 1992

              UM emerging from Andrew’s wake
Coral Gables, South campus damaged most
By ANNETTE GALLAGHER and ALLETTA BOWERS
Of the Staff
Hurricane Andrew’s trail of fallen power lines, smashed window panes, uprooted trees and stripped roofing tiles across the University of Miami’s four campuses left a repair bill estimated at $11 million — and counting.
Insurance will pay some of those costs, and it is still unclear how much of the difference federal emergency funds will cover.
These early estimates have been given to the federal government, President Edward T. Foote II said.
David Lieberman, senior vice presidnet, said the University does not intend to raise tuition because of the storm.
Most repairs will be completed by the end of the month.
The Coral Gables campus had 800 windows blown out, 35 roofs damaged and 1,000 trees lost. Some on-campus apartment buildings lost their roofs completely, but the hardest hit of all UM buildings was the Ponce Building at the corner of San Amaro Drive and Ponce de Leon Boulevard.
“The building’s going to have to be completely rebuilt on the inside," said Victor Atherton, assistant vice president for Facilities Administration. “Everything got soaking wet. We went over there first thing •n the morning after the storm. There was a photocopier out in the street.”
Dean Bruce Rosendahl of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science said the RSMAS campus suffered $3.7 million to $4 million of physical damagen. Time lost in writing research grant proposals could cost the school an additional $1 million in grant money — not covered by insurance.
South Campus, located near Metro Zoo, was also damaged.
"They’re going to need some roofing repairs. Building A lost all its windows as far as I could tell,” said Atherton.
See oaae 2! ANDREW
■I.C RIDLEY/Special to th« Hurricane
SURVEYING THE DAMAGE: The University of Miami lost more than 1,000 trees over in the storm were saved. There are no immediate plans to re-plant any of the to Andrew on the Coral Gables campus alone. Another 700 carnous trees blown lost trees.
HURRICANE ANDREW’S PATH
Special from The Miami Herald 1
HURRICANE’S IMPACT
Andrew's damage to other areas:
ENVIRONMENT
10,112 acres of wetlands damaged, as were beaches, _________coral reefs, fisheries and native pine forests.
AGRICULTURE
Nearly 80 percent of Dade County's farms suffered
_________ damage, with
losses more than $1 billion.
HOUSING
Nearly 20,000 housing units were destroyed, with almosf 90,000 more damaged.
I UM asks for more financial aid
Students hit hard by Andrew
Students weather storm on campus
By JOE CALAPAI
and RICARDO J. BASCUAS
Stall Writer
Half of the students who live on campus were checked into their rooms or apartments when Hurricane Andrew raged through Dade County.
Some of the 2,100 students left the University of Miami to weather the storm elsewhere, but many stayed on campus.
Students, some with their parents, spent most of the early morning of Aug. 23 lying wrapped in blankets in the hallways of the residential colleges. Much of that time was spent in the dark in most buildings, after power was lost and emergency generators were drained.
Many students said despite tremendous wind gusts that shook the buildings, they were not scared of being injured. No injuries were reported on campus.
“I felt pretty safe in the hallway, but I was more worried about my stuff,” Catey Galatola, a sophomore living in Pearson Residential College, said. “I was worried about the windows blowing in because the wind was coming straight toward us, but nothing happened to my room.”
Not everyone was in the hallway while the hurricane was blowing through. Some students were in the classroom at Pearson.
“It was wall-to-wall people [in the class-roomi,’’ Jeremy Apisdorf, junior, said. “It was fun though.”
Apisdorf said he fared relatively well.
"My room lost some windows. Other than my possessions, nothing was really messed up,” Apisdorf said.
Mahoney sustained the most damage of the residential colleges. There was roof and window damage in Mahoney, James Smart, assistant director for Residence Services, said.
Seepage ^/RESIDENTS
Commuters worried about homes, school
By FRANK RECIO
Contributing Editor
While clean-up crews worked for two weeks on the University of Miami campus to undo the damage done in a few hours by Hurricane Andrew, commuter students and university employees reckoned with the damage done to their homes.
Ana Cordova, a sophomore biology major who lives at her parents’ house on Southwest 112th Street, said she spent the night of the storm at a relative’s house near campus. Her house lost several windows in the storm and suffered extensive wind and water damage.
“Most of the damage came from the standing water inside the house. The worst part though, was the looters that came in after the storm and made an even bigger mess of things. Now we are waiting for the insurance guy ana cleaning up,” Cordova said.
"I’ve had house duty for the last two weeks. ... I am far from being ready to start [UM] again,” she said. "This semester is going to be tough.”
Connie Lackey, a senior staff assistant at Student Activities who weathered the storm in Kendall, went home after the storm to find her Cutler Ridge apartment severely damaged.
"Our walls caved in and there was water damage everywhere,” she said.
Lackey said she expects state officials to condemn her condominium when they inspect it later this month.
"Before they even said it was safe to go out, we saw the damage to our house. We went back to Kendall and had a new apartment by 12:30 p.m. on the day of the Hurricane,” she said. “Now we are stuck paying a mortgage and finding a new place to live.’’
Lackey said her apartment was also looted.
See page 2!LOCAL
By ANNETTE GALLAGHER
Assistant News Editor
To ease the strain Hurricane Andrew has placed on many University of Miami students, President Edward T. Foote II has requested $5 million in additional financial aid from the federal government.
“There are students from Dade County who were able to meet the cost of education three weeks ago, but can’t now,” Footq said.
Financial Assistance Services and the U.S. Department of Education are currently working with students whose need for financial aid has increased since the storm.
Department of Education assistance is mainly in the form of Pell Grants, according to Jim Moore, special assistant to the Secretary of Education. Moore said that losing assets in Hurricane Andrew has changed the Pell Grant eligibility of some UM students and that, of the 140 students seen by the DOE by Thursday morning, approximately 12 have had serious changes in status.
* There are students from Dade County who were able to meet the cost of education three weeks ago, but can’t now.’
Edward T. Foote II, UM President
One other advantage to working with the DOE is speed, Moore said.
“We can process Pell Grant applications in about 10 days instead of the usual four weeks. We’ve even had three applications go through in only two days,” he said.
Martin Carney, director of Financial Assistance Services, said that, currently, no more additional aid is available from his office. He added that if Congress approves the president’s $7 billion federal aid package, funds will be made available to universities to be distributed as needed.
“One of the issues that UM and every other South Florida university is facing right now is that many of the students from South Dade are high-need students who already receive the full Pell Grant. So we've lobbied long and hard for grant assistance from the federal government and Department of Education.
"We don’t want loans for these people. We want grants, but we’ll take what we can get.”
Carney added that there is no hope of aid for affected students from Florida. “The state is broke,” he said.
In Student Accounts, “Everything's been pushed back,” said Director Lillian Peralta.
While Peralta said that there isn’t much Student Accounts can do, she is urging anyone who is having trouble paying because of Andrew to contact the office immediately.
“We are prepared to work one-on-one with students in trouble, but we haven’t seen many yet,” Peralta said.
No finals planned for fall semester
By ALLETTA BOWERS
Editor In Chief
The fall semester will be without final exams this year because of a two-week delay in the start of classes.
Scott Ingold, assistant dean of Enrollment Services, said reading days and the final exam period have been cut from the schedule. Instead, classes will run through Dec. 18 and the faculty is being asked not to give cumulative exams at the end of the semester.
"We are asking the faculty to consider alternative means of examination,” John Masterson, vice provost for Undergraduate Affairs, said.
Professors could choose to give take home exams or term papers instead of a cumulative exam, Master-son said.
Ingold said a proposal to come back after Christmas and take final exams was abandoned.
“It would have been difficult for students graduating to fly back after the break,” Ingold said. "Students would have had to take exams and then gear up for another semester.”
Ending the semester in December would present the least amount of stress for students without sacrificing standards or quality, Masterson said.
“How much material is covered is for the faculty to decide,” Masterson said. “These are extraordinary times that require some adjustment. Professors don’t have to include everything in the syllabus.”
Changes in the academic calendar will not jeopardize accreditation of the schools or colleges, Ingold said.
A number of professors said they were happy with the amended calendar because it would bring students back fresh in the spring.
“This seems like the most responsible plan,” Robert Kelley, chairman of the mathematics and computer science department, said. "It causes the least disruption for everyone.”
Nancy Clasby, a lecturer in the English department, said she would probably give papers in her literature classes instead of a cumulative exam. She will not adjust the material covered, she said.
“I’ll do what 1 can to make it possible for the students and, yet, cover the material,” Clasby said.
Maryann Barber, a computer information systems professor, said CIS 120, an introductory course, will not have a final exam, which had accounted for 40 percent a student's grade in previous years. Two tests given during the semester will make up 80 percent of a student’s grade. Pop quizzes and a final project will account for the final 20 percent.
Because there will be the same number of class periods, the amount of material covered will be the same, Barber said.
"I don’t want to say this semester will be easier, but it will be a little bit -less stressful in the end because there will be no finals,” she said.
ACADEMIC CALENDAR:
I First day of classes— Sept. 14 I Last day to drop a class— Sept. 29 I Last day to withdraw from a class— Oct. 30
I Last day to add— Sept. 18 I Last day ol semester— Dec. 18