Category Archives: Buildings and Grounds

Yikes! This sounds scary!

Posted on April 17, 2012 by | 11 Comments

From the EMU Department of Public Safety comes this:

Eastern Michigan University Police are reporting and investigating a felonious domestic assault that occurred on campus at approximately 4 a.m. this morning at the Westview Apartments. The victim, who is an EMU Student, reports being held at gunpoint and threatened by a known acquaintance and being forcibly removed from her home. The suspect demanded the victim leave her home, and ride with him at gunpoint. The victim reports that she was later dropped off at her apartment on campus, where the suspect fled in a Yellow Ford Escape with a Michigan license plate of CFH3469.

Darnell Dwayne Garris is a person of interest in this investigation. Mr. Garris is not an EMU student, and is described as an African American male, dark skin complexion, 6’0”, 150 lbs, black hair, and brown eyes.  Mr. Garris is believed to be headed toward Detroit.

If anyone comes into contact with Darnell Dwayne Garris, you are encouraged to report any information to EMU Police Department at (734) 487-1222.

There are no physical injuries to the victim.

It sounds like a domestic violence sort of thing– that is, I don’t get the impression that Mr. Garris is breaking into random apartments.  Still, scary stuff.

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Posted in Buildings and Grounds, Security and Safety

Power Interruption

Posted on April 12, 2012 by | 1 Comment

This just in from Geoff “Geoff” Larcom:

This morning, at approximately 6:53 a.m., the entire EMU campus experienced a power interruption. Loops 2, 3 and 4, which affect much of campus, have had power restored. Loop 1 is still without power. The buildings affected include Rackham, Hover, King, Ford, Pierce, Strong, Welch, McKenny and Boone halls.

Physical Plant staff is working to restore power on Loop 1 at this time. Plant staff us also working on re-energizing the boilers at the Heating Plant.

The cause appears to have been an Edison power feed interruption, and Physical Plant is working with Edison to further determine the cause while restoring power to the remaining buildings.

We will send further information and updates as soon as they become available.

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Posted in Buildings and Grounds

“U-M, EMU to ‘Go Blue’ Monday for World Autism Awareness Day”

Posted on April 2, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Just in case you are wondering tonight what’s the deal with the blue Tower: from annarbor.com comes “U-M, EMU to ‘Go Blue’ Monday for World Autism Awareness Day.”  Here’s the EMU part of the story:

 Eastern Michigan University will also be recognizing World Autism Awareness Day by lighting the iconic Ypsilanti water tower in blue from dusk to midnight. Members of the community are encouraged to wear blue and can stop by EMU’s student center for a free blue key chain and flashlight from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday.

I’m surprised there isn’t more in this article about the study of autism center at EMU….

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Posted in Buildings and Grounds, EMU Events, In the media...

March heat wave warnings; really?

Posted on March 20, 2012 by | 8 Comments

Geoff “Geoff” Larcom sent around an email to everyone on campus regarding the “March heat wave.”  Among other things, it suggests avoiding alcohol, caffine, and protein-rich meals; to cut down on extra sources of heat (like incandescent lights) and to make meals that don’t require a stove, and to schedule outdoor activity carefully and to pace yourself.

(Giggle).

Okay, look:  it is unseasonably and weirdly (global warmingly?) warm out there for sure.  But the predicted high today is in the 80s, not the 120s.  I think most of us will be able to solider through it.  Actually, I think the best advice is to get outside of some of these stuffy buildings and enjoy a bit of the outdoors.

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Posted in Buildings and Grounds, College Fun, Security and Safety

Library Basement Reopening

Posted on March 5, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Has anyone out there been to the grand reopening of the library basement?  I know it’s open today for the first time since mid-January, and there are apparently some celebratory-type things associated with it.  I can’t make it because I’m swamped with the day-job and also because I assume it’s pretty much like it was before.  Anyone out there have any impressions they want to share?

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Posted in Buildings and Grounds, EMU Events

Is an EMUTalk toilet on campus inevitable?

Posted on February 6, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Also in Inside Higher Ed this morning is this story about colleges selling the naming rights to bathrooms.  Here’s a quote:

In a brazen effort to raise funds, Dixie State offered naming rights to individual bathroom stalls in a musical theater company’s planned building. The college wanted to help the troupe, which had moved on campus after being evicted from its previous stage, raise money for a new home somewhere else.

The St. George Musical Theater is now out of business, apparently having come up a few urinals short of its fund-raising goal. Also gone is the Web page announcing the lavatory sponsorships, which college officials edited Friday after being alerted to its existence by a reporter.

Laugh if you want, but Dixie State isn’t the first cash-hungry college to seek money for bathrooms.

The story goes on to describe how a $100,000 donation to the Harvard Law School created the “Falik Men’s Room” there.

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Posted in Buildings and Grounds, College Fun, In the media...

EMU-Flint to close?

Posted on February 3, 2012 by | 9 Comments

An alert reader emailed me to let me know that EMU-Flint is set to close at the end of this semester.  I don’t know this person’s sources, so maybe someone else can confirm that.  And I frankly didn’t know there was an EMU-Flint, but it apparently operates through continuing education on the campus of Mott Community College.

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Posted in Academics, Budgets, Buildings and Grounds, Student Life

At least we don’t have bedbugs, right?

Posted on February 3, 2012 by | 4 Comments

It’s been an extremely busy couple of weeks for me on this pesky day-job so I haven’t had much a chance to post here.  That and there’s not much going on.  But  in the spirit of sharing, I thought I’d pass along this amusing bit from Inside Higher Ed:  “Bedbug Cover-Up Alleged.”  To quote in total:

It’s the cover-up that always gets you. The University of Nebraska at Lincoln is the latest college to face a bedbug problem in some dormitories — an event that has been treated as a serious annoyance by students elsewhere, but hasn’t led to scandals. As The Lincoln Journal Star reported, however, a resident assistant in one housing unit reported that when she found bedbugs, she was discouraged from telling the students, and was told to tell them that her room was being remodeled, not that it was being scrubbed for bedbugs. The university denies a cover-up, but students aren’t convinced.

Indeed, it is the cover-up that always gets you….

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Posted in Buildings and Grounds, College Fun, In the media..., Student Life

In more library plumbing news…

Posted on January 22, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Once again, Provost Kim Schatzel has sent around an update about the busted pipe in the basement in Halle (which I include below), and it would seem that the library and physical plant people are on top of it all and making good progress on the repairs.  Two things that occur to me now:

  • I’m pretty impressed with Schatzel’s swiftness and directness about keeping people informed about all this.  It bodes well, IMO.
  • There’s been some kind of problem with water, plumbing, leaking, etc. in the auditorium in the library for years, and along with this issue, I do have to wonder if there isn’t some kind of serious contractor/construction issue that is now making itself visible.  I’m not sure there’s much recourse at this stage since the building has been open for at least a dozen years now, but this might be something to follow.

Schatzel’s message after the jump:

Continue reading →

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Posted in Administrator Life, Buildings and Grounds, Halle Library

“Shit goes down” in Halle

Posted on January 19, 2012 by | 11 Comments

When I received new Provost Kim Schatzel’s email about the busted plumbing in Halle Library last night (see below for the full text of the message), I was reminded of a conversation I had with a neighbor of mine once.  This guy is a retired foreman from the Ypsilanti Community Utility Authority, Ypsi’s water and sewer provider.  For some reason, we were having an “over the backyard fence” conversation about remodeling basements and he was explaining to me why it’s never a good idea to spend a lot of money on a project like that.  ”We got a saying in the sewer business, Steve,” he said: “Shit goes down.”

The short version is it it seems a big drain pipe fell off of some supports in the basement and bad things happened.  Among other things, Provost Schatzel’s email says that the repairs are estimated to take a month (which I interpret as meaning at least a month, maybe more), and, during this reconstruction period, we can expect noise and “possibly odors.”  Ugh.  It sounds like it is just one of those terrible things that sometimes happens, but it also sounds like it’s going to be pretty unpleasant in Halle for a while.

Anyone working over there have any more insight?

By the way, I think this is the first email I’ve received from our new provost.  Welcome aboard, Kim!  See the full text after the jump.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Administrator Life, Buildings and Grounds, Halle Library