Originally published September 25, 2008 at 1:56 p.m., updated September 25, 2008 at 3:30 p.m.
A half-hour power outage Thursday afternoon disabled most buildings across campus as Westar Energy employees worked to replace a piece of failing equipment in a major electrical circuit.
Students filed out of Wescoe, Haworth and Bailey halls, as well as Spencer and Watson libraries, and a half-dozen other academic buildings on campus went dark.
According to Karla Olsen, director of corporate communications for Westar Energy, the first outage, which was momentary, was caused by a routine maintenance check of one of the primary power feeds to the University. During the inspection, workers discovered that a piece of electrical insulating equipment, known as a “pothead,” was “burning itself out,” Olsen said. Workers made the decision to isolate the circuit and shut off power so the pothead could be replaced. Because of the urgency of the situation, Westar workers did not alert the University about the second outage, Olsen said.
A pothead separates conductors along an electrical line, providing safe passage of currents between overhead lines and underground lines, said Dale Wolford, an electrician with Quality Electric in Lawrence.
The power was out in areas of campus from 1:26 p.m. to 1:56 p.m., according to Olsen’s data.
Across campus, students and faculty encountered various levels of inconvenience. Students were told to leave the Student Recreation Fitness Center about 10 minutes after the power went off, according to Tim Sherman, Derby freshman. Sherman said he was the last student to enter the building’s basement, where the locker rooms are located, and where other students illuminated the way with the light of cell phones and other electronic devices.
Sherman said he wasn’t able to retrieve his possessions before everyone was moved outside the building and across the street.
At Haworth Hall, Matthew Matte, Albuquerque, N.M., senior, was among a group of students in an immunology class reduced to a lengthy question-and-answer session with the professor after the outage made a planned multimedia presentation impossible.
“We just kind of sat there and joked around a little bit,” Matte said.
Watkins Memorial Health Center continued emergency functions despite the outage, which left some exam rooms dark. Diana Malott, assistant director at Watkins, said the health center relies on an emergency generator in power outage situations, and that the generator is tested once a month by KU Facilities and Operations. Malott said that the health center had one patient on an IV in urgent care when the outage occurred.
Some students found themselves dealing with the domino effect of delayed progress on assignments. Leanna Bogard, Sedalia senior, was working on a last-minute paper for a women’s studies course in Watson Library when the lights went out.
“I work full time, so the only time I get to do homework is during the day in the library,” Bogard said. “Now I have to ask for an extension, which will put me behind in the class.”
Not everyone was put off by the outage, however. Julianne Buchsbaum, a librarian in Watson, said she took the opportunity to enjoy Thursday’s good weather.
“It was a nice break to be outside,” said Buchsbaum.
Olsen said that if the affected circuit requires further repair, Westar should be able to redirect power in a way that does not interrupt service for the University.
Reporters Betsy Cutcliff and Brandy Entsminger also contributed to this story.
— — Edited by Kelsey Hayes
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Electrical replacement causes campus power outage
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Electrical replacement causes campus power outage
damn potheads .. always causing trouble in larryville ;-)
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