As new buildings go up, old ones are falling apart -- at least, that's the perception of many faculty and students at The University of Memphis. However, maintenance and safety officials say they're following orders and working overtime in an attempt to keep the campus environment safe and functioning.
The Daily Helmsman investigated the problems and progress surrounding three of the older buildings that are part of The University, indicating a campus-wide struggle for administrators to facilitate 21st century programs in what some would say are archaic buildings that hinder technology.
"It looks like medieval ages," said Eugene Pinkhassik, an assistant professor of chemistry who also leads a research project. Pinkhassik said he has studied in seven chemistry laboratories around the world and came to The University of Memphis six months ago to teach and lead a research project.
"You need a building specifically designed for modern research work, you need an emergency shower in every lab and you need a drain right there, so you don't have a problem," Pinkhassik said.
The building Pinkhassik is talking about is the Smith Hall chemistry building. While many of the labs have relatively newly installed safety showers, none of the showers have drains, which means a chemical spill could spell disaster for the entire lab.
"I certainly hope students don't get discouraged from using them," Pinkhassik said, "because they know if they use the emergency shower, they will get water all over the lab, and they will have to clean it up -- but still it's better than nothing."
However, not all chemistry professors see the safety showers as a problem.
"As fast as the water comes out, it's going to be standing there for a few minutes anyway. I don't perceive this as a safety issue. It's a nuisance, that's what it is," said Ted Burkey, associate professor of chemistry.
Al Simpson, manager of Environmental Health and Safety, said the chemical hygiene committee is aware of the shower issue and was instrumental in getting some upgraded showers in a lot of the buildings around campus. Simpson said a trade-off had to be made due to a limited amount of funding.
"The committee felt it was reasonable to simply install the showers and eyewashes without drains," he said. "That's a pretty standard thing to do."
Simpson also said a report showed the single most important safety system in the chemistry labs is the ventilation system, especially the fume hoods that remove toxic vapors as students work with chemicals.
Many buildings at The U of M where science courses are taught suffer from a lack of working fume hoods. A 1999 report showed that 65 fume hoods out of 123 that were tested across campus failed inspection.
Although the state of Tennessee recently allocated more than $3.8 million to replace hoods, that amount will only replace 24 of them, Simpson said.
Pinkhassik said serious chemists spend eight to twelve hours a day engaging in work, and need adequate facilities. He also said undergraduates who are taking basic chemistry to fill a science requirement probably need more protection because of their lack of experience.
Although in an entirely different area, U of M faculty and staff in the Department of Education work daily to overcome similar challenges, while striving to stay at the top of their field. Carol Young, a teacher and administrator at The U of M's Barbara K. Lipman Center for Early Childhood Education, said the program stays on an 18-month waiting list, in spite of the buildings physical challenges.
"We're actually a flagship program, a lab school," Young said. "We try innovative things and stay very current. We do lots of workshops and research. We also teach courses at The University, and allow students in the college of education to learn about the early childhood environment from our classrooms."
However, while the programs may be the latest, the Lipman School's playground isn't.
Out of two playground areas, one has been under construction for months while the other is too small. Young said the children sometimes get splinters after playing on the old wooden equipment.
Young also stressed the importance of a playground for small children.
"A playground is an extension of the learning environment," she said.
Young said through private funding and a silent auction, the school was able to raise almost a third of the money needed to build a state of the art playground. However, Young said not having all of the money drastically increases the cost of the project.
"A problem is, if we say we have X amount of dollars to do one phase of the project, that makes the price per square foot go up about three to four times more," Young said. "Isn't that neat?"
The school also wants to add bathroom stalls for the children. Young said the space is there, but the money isn't.
Another building that suffers from lack of funds, according to professors and students, is the art building.
Ken Huang, who has taught art at The U of M for 27 years, says he loves his work, but the building leaves a lot to be desired.
"We are not asking for chairs or beautiful blinds, or even a pay raise, just hot water and cold air," he said.
However, Brooks said physical plant wasn't aware that the art building had a hot water problem, and sometimes things get fixed without people noticing.
"We respond to all calls," Brooks said. "It (the art building) has had hot water. But if the heating element breaks down, until that professor uses hot water again, he thinks the system is out. In the mean time, everyone else is using hot water."
Brooks also said physical plant's role is to maintain what's already in a building, and the art building never had adequate air conditioning. In fact, fans that are installed in the halls for ventilation were actually an addition, Brooks said.
