Miami Hurricane, February 13, 2001

              Coral Gables, Florida	SPfC FORM Since 1927
Votone 78, Number 33______________VWnWLHUfWICANE.MIAMI.EDU______________Tuesday, February 13,2001
Rowing for Dough
MATT BREWER/ Hurricane Staff
PULLING THE WEIGHT: Men's rew Team member, Al Kurzezki, takes part in the crew teams’ all-night “Erg-a-Thon” fund raiser Thursday, to help raise. The Academic Department dropped the team as an official sport at UM last spring due to reasons associated with the NAACP’s Title IX restriction. See the story on the team’s struggles to stay alive since then on page 2.
Students shafted by campus elevators
Administrator says vandalism is to blame
Vera Nji
Hurricane Staff Writer
It is 5 a.m., you and a group of your friends are returning from a night of dancing and an early morning meal at Denny’s.
You run to the closing elevator doors in hopes of catching it before it ascends. The button is touched just in time to for you to see the doors open. Then you realize that the doors are rhythmically moving back and forth.
Surprise! It is another University elevator breakdown.
Many students on campus said they have witnessed problems with campus elevators time and time again, in each of the school’s residence halls and in. other locations.
Victor Atherton, associate vice
president of the Facilities r , , Administration Department, is in
charge of finding the causes of and
alleviating such mishaps.
Atherton delegates the entire Facilities Administration throughout the campus, and the Department hires someone to be on call 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, including holidays, he said.
Facilities Manager of Residence Hall Maintenance, johnny Williams, explained his responsibility with elevator procedures, beginning with servicing.
“It is my job to get students out of the elevators and redirect their complaints to 284-CARE, who in turn call the elevator company.”
The elevator company he is referring to is Atlantic Elevator Sales and Service. They dispatch mechanics to repair the elevators.
“Students should call right away when they experience a problem with the elevators. It is important to call the emergency number,” said
Williams.
Complaint calls are received by customer service and a zone mechanic is immediately dispatched from Atlantic Elevator, said Williams.
Many students have been calling attention to the fact that the residence hall elevator inspection certificates expired on Jan. 30; however, the certificates are still valid within 30 days of the expiration date, he said.
Alan Weber, associate director of Contract Administration, is also familiar with elevator repair procedures on campus and deals with them on a daily basis.
“They have been inspected,” said Weber of the “expired” elevators.
Miami-Dade County inspectors recently inspected the elevators, said Weber. He also said students should note that inspections are sometimes backed up due to various reasons, including discrepancies on the County’s bill.
This was just the case with the last
inspection, he said.
The Facilities Administration realized the $9,800 bill was incorrect, overcharging the inspection by $400.
The problem has now been resolved and the elevators will soon be updated with new inspection certificates, he said.
Not only does the Administration deal with inspections, they are also responsible for the upkeep and servicing of the elevators.
“We have a positive program to maintain and upkeep them,” said Weber.
The Mahoney and Pearson Residence Halls received a major renovation over summer, and a door opener repair during winter break. New traveling cables were installed in the Pentland Tower.
Later on this year, the two elevators in the Ashe building will be renovated according to the Americans with Disabilities Act, said Weber.
Elevators, said Weber, have a life .expectancy of 40-60 years.
“The elevators will continue to
work as long as we can still get the parts that they need,” he said.
Weber said the reason behind the campus’ 65 elevators receiving so much servicing was more than just natural wear and tear, though. Fifty percent of repairs reported through the 3-4 calls received daily are due to vandalism, he said.
“There is no reason to damage the elevators,” said Williams of the situation.
Recently, Mahoney elevators were installed with new lamps, only to have them vandalized a week later. Inspection certificates were placed in vandal-proof frames because they were repeatedly being ripped off and ruined, he said.
Williams said he has heard of everything from burn marks on lamp covers, to gum on the buttons and graffiti on the walls.
“There are a number of reasons why they need repairs, but usually it is because of vandalism,” said Weber.
Weber recounted late» of door*
being taken off the tracks, items being dropped into the tracks and the detectors being doused with water.
This past week, Stanford residents entered an elevator only to find it decorated with fresh fruits splattered all over the walls and floor, said Weber.
Housekeeping keeps the elevators clean, but it becomes difficult when students disrespectfully trash the elevators on a routine basis, he said.
After handling repairs for over 10 years, Weber said he wanted to remind students, “we have breakdowns like everyone else. We are also proactive in the idea of bringing the elevators up to par.”
The important thing is to call and make sure the problem is taken care of, he said.
“I try to keep everything as safe and clean as I can,” said Williams. “I want to know all your complaints and be able to take care of them or redirect them to the correct department to be taken care of”
Rathskeller’s 29th birthday to include a week of festivities
By Paloma Helm
Hurricane Staff Writer
The Rathskeller is celebrating its 29th birthday this week with a week-long series of special events. The week will include live comedians, a raffle, a showing of the movie Road Trip, and free giveaways of T-shirts and mugs.
The Rathskeller opened in 1973, in the same building that it is still housed.
Until the early 80s, the Rat’s birthday was celebrated with a daylong celebration, after which the Rathskeller Advisory Board (RAB) decided to extend the festivities and make the birthday celebration a weeklong party.
Everett Price, the Rat’s manager, was a student at the University from 1980-84. He worked at the Rat in the
kitchen while he attended school and has noticed a lot of changes since his student days.
The amount of students that hang out at the Rat has decreased significantly due to some major changes in Miami, he said.
In 1983 the legal drinking age changed from 18 to 21, and after that, the crowds began to thin out at the hangout.
Also, the club scene at South Beach, which is now one of the most popular places to be seen, was almost nonexistent at the time.
“1 just think that there is a lot more competition for a student’s tjrats”nS<ud^veret*t. “Back' wfien I went to school there were not 200 student organizations registered on campus.”
The birthday activities have dif-
fered year to year, but some have become a tradition, such as Dinner Theatre, which-although the movie has changcd-has become a staple.
“Something that we always used to do during birthday week was show The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” said assistant manager Abbie Begnaud, “and at the part in the movie where they would throw the rice, we would throw rice at the screen. Last year was the first year in a while that we haven’t done it.”
The Rathskeller is run by students. Not only are the employees mainly students, but the RAB, which is in charge of promotion and scheduling events, consists solely of students.
The advisory board is trying to get more students to come and hang out at the Rat, because although the Rat is in the middle of campus, the
majority of students don’t frequent it, said Begnaud.
“There are juniors and seniors that don’t know where the Rat is, some even think that the Rat is a classroom building,” said Begnaud.
The events kicked off on Monday with a lunchtime raffle-drawing for a free lunch for 10.
Today at 7 p.m. is a Spades Contest, where participants can win over $150 in prizes.
On Wednesday, Valentine’s Day, a Broken Hearts Comedy Show at 7 p.m. will feature comedians Finesse, lay Deep and Lad Luv.
Road Trip will be shown during Dinner Theatre, Thursday at 7 p.m., and finally, on Friday, starting at 4 p.m., there will be a nightlong happy hour, and the cutting of a birthday cake.
MATT BREWER/ Hunlcsr» Staff VICTIM OF VANDALS: A Stanford elevator, such as the one pc-"^
tuned above, was subjected to a “fruiting" attack last week
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