By Andrew Pete
Half of the Widtsoe Building will lose power Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for construction efforts to update electrical wiring.
The scheduled power outage is needed after a recent fire damaged electrical wiring in the north side of the building. The outage will enable electricians to install new wiring in areas that were affected by the fire that occurred on Oct. 21.
'Professors have already received an e-mail about the outage,' said Alan Harker, associate dean for the college of biology and agriculture. 'Where appropriate, students will have received from their professors an e-mail regarding the cancellation of classes and labs.'
The building''s ventilation system will also be down during the outage, temporarily suspending lab activities that involve chemicals or hazardous materials.
The south side of the Widtsoe will continue to have full power, but hallway lights throughout the building will operate on emergency power. Passenger elevators on the north side of the building will not be operational.
If needed, emergency power can be used for lab freezers and refrigerators if the temperatures cannot be sustained during the duration of the outage.