UNIVERSITY
PLC elevators boast an unflattering reputation
Lack of money
prevents their
modernization
By Wendy Fisher
Emerald Contributor
Of the 43 passenger elevators
on campus, it seems the most
memorable are the two eleva
tors in PLC.
Memorable, in this case, is
used in the negative sense.
Most people who ride the el
evator remember the long wait
for it. the sudden lurch as it
stops and starts, the failure of
the elevator to stop before the
door opens, the lack of Braille
button indicators, and a button
panel that is too high for peo
ple in wheelchairs.
They also remember getting
stuck between floors.
"I just got stuck between the
third and fourth floors," said
sociology peer adviser Kelli
Callippi, who managed to
make it to her eighth floor of
fice. She and five others on the
elevator pushed buttons until
the elevator moved to the
fourth floor where they pried
open the doors. Everyone got
off the elevator and took the
stairs. Callippi said.
Several other faculty and
staff in PLC have also been
stuck in the elevator.
Economics professor Joe
Stone said he gets stuck in the
elevators about five times a
year and has to pry open the el
evator doors to get out.
Stone said he was even
forced to climb out of one of
the elevators five years ago
when it stopped between
floors.
Sociology office manager
Barbara l.utan said she was
stuck in the elevator for It)
minutes in l‘)HH.
TOofn r>> 1 Irn
PLC’s elevators are notorious for being slow anti unpredictable, and modernization may not be
possible until I99t.
"You should always carry a
book with you in case you get
stuck," she said. Lutan added,
however, that she has only
been stuck in the elevators once
in 14 years.
Shelly Carlson of the politi
cal science department said she
is used to the elevator prob
lems.
"We just kind of learned to
live with it.” she said.
The elevators may have prob
lems. but unlike elevator horror
films it’s impossible for the ele
vator cars to fall, said Ernie
Svensson. preventative main
tenance supervisor
The elevators are held by five
or six cables, which are consis
tently tested for stretching and
rusting. If problems are found,
the cables are replaced. Svens
son said.
All campus elevators are in
spected by a state inspector A
no-load test, in which the ele
vator begins its descent and the
emergency brake is applied, is
done annually and a full-load
lest, in which the elevator is
loaded to its weight capacity
and the emergency brake ap
plied during its descent, is
done every five years. PIjC's el
evators passed both tests.
Svensson explained that if an
accident occurred, the elevator
would be shut down until a
state inspector examined it.
The PLC elevators' problems
are well-known to the Universi
ty Physical Plant.
John Chappell. Physical
Plant associate director, said
PLC's elevators, "have been a
real pain for years." Chappell
and elevator mechanic Terry
Jones said the problems with
PLC's elevators are due to a
combination of factors.
It takes HOD relay switches,
working properly, to operate
the elevators. A problem with
one switch and the elevator
won’t work properly.
Thr elevators art- more than
20 years old. are the most used
on campus and serve the larg
est building on campus — ten
floors
Moreover, Chappell said that
when the elevators were origi
nally purchased in 1967, they
were not top-of-the-line mod
els.
(ones said he receives one to
two calls a week to repair one
or the other of the elevators.
That figure, however, is down
from the four to five calls (ones
used to receive.
Five years ago the Physical
Plant began a preventative
maintenance program, (ones
said he now checks the eleva
tors once a week, and problems
have declined significantly.
In July. Physical Plant Direc
tor (ieorge llecht enlisted an el
evator consultant company to
study (he two PIjC elevators.
Although the company said
they've seen worse elevators.
Ilit'ir studv recommended, "the
modernization of the two Wes
tinghouse passenger elevators
(I’l.Cs elevators)." The mod
ernization recommended by the
company ini .luded making the
elevators accessible to the dis
abled
"by modernizing the exist
ing equipment .. you would Im
eliminating many of the current
components which are causing
maintenance difficulties and
shutdown," the study added.
So why hasn't the University
replaced or upgraded the eleva
tors? Lack of money, said
Hec.ht
The price to modernize tin
two elevators is approximately
$*10,000 apiece. PU! has a third
elevator shaft, hut according to
federal law. an elevator cannot
be installed there unless the
other two elevators are modern
ized.
The capital repair budget
gives maintenance $Hr>(MM)() a
year The elevator maintenance
alone was almost $H().0()(I last
year and is expected to be mom
than $100,000 this year Add in
repairs to roofs, sidewalks and
other structures and the budget
doesn't cover the needed re
pairs and replacements. Ilecht
said.
The future for the elevators is
in limbo right now, said Ceorge
Pernsleiner. vice-chancellor for
facilities for the Oregon State
System of High Education.
The University has a budget
plan, entitled the Achievement
Modernization Program, for
$1.5 million, which Pernsleiner
said includes modernizing the
two elevators.
The plan in currently in front
of the Oregon Legislature.
Pernsleiner said.
If the project is accepted, the
money won't l>e available until
July 1991 Then the University
must decide where to spend it
The hottest trend in laundry
finds Eugene in Club Wash
By Stacy Ivie
Emetaid Associate Editor
Students seeking a social atmosphere or a place
to meet that special someone have another option
to offset the singles liars and coffee houses
The concept is social laundry, and the nation
wide trend has come to Eugene in the form of
(,'lub Wash.
Owners of coin-operated laundry facilities
across the country are grasping at the threads of
this new fad: up-scaled laundromats that not only
serve a purpose, but provide a social scene as an
added bonus.
The idea is contagious. So far. coin-operated
laundromat trade journals report that between
150-200 up-scale laundromats have cropped up
across the country.
Locally. Hill and Montra Dickey, owners of
Club Wash, are banking on the fact that Universi
ty students w ill warm up to the same services.
"We are turning the laundry chore into an
event." Montra said
The first of-its kind laundromat in the campus
area was concocted from an idea the Dickeys had
w hen thev attended the University.
"We ha.ed to do our laundry Everyone hates
to do their laundry, but it just has to be done."
Hill said
Hill read an article eight years ago focusing on
a social laundromat on the ( niversitv of Texas
campus "The place was doing great and stu
dents were loving it. It has been in the back of my
mind since then."
Hill and Montra decided it was time to take the
step in August ltiH't when they approached Sa
cred Heart Hospital to discuss renting some hos
pital-owned space on 13th Avenue. "They didn't
like up to the idea (of a laundromat). They said
they didn't want hums sleeping in the dryers."
Hill said, smiling
When their current building opened up last
school year, the Dickeys gave Sacred Heart a sec
ond sales pitch and were successful.
Club Wash, 595 K. 13th Ave . formerly
Sahalie's Natural Food Store, opened its doors on
June It), which Bill openly admits was a terrible
time to start business with students departing
But since fall term rolled around, business has
picked up to the point that the Dickeys are now
planning to add more washers and dryers.
What attracts the students? A big s< reen televi
sion. video games, music, a deli featuring salads,
soups, sandwiches and the like, and of course,
the laundry facilities.
"I do my laundry here because it's clean and
new and offers me a place to study." said Nata
sha Juliana, a second-year University student,
who reads through a ( lass packet while her laun
dry is being done The television blares in the
background entertaining other laundry -doers
And there are no hums sleeping in the dryers
Montra said that safety is a big factor. "In a
study done in the spring, students reported that
they didn't like going to laundromats be( ause
they didn't feel safe. (The store is) attended .it all
times, so we don't have that problem
Success is also partially attributed to the envi
Turn to WASH. Page 16
JMinln li> Srjfi NMH
(University students Ann l.ulav and Sean HatTner spend a niffht
Hulling and folding at the hottest spot to do laundry, hugene's
Club Wash.