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The Red and Black
Campus air conditioners to contain toxic chemical
By MELANIE THOMAS
Staff Writer
A skirmish over the installation of air
conditioners containing a toxic chemical
has subsided after the creation of a safe
ty committee, although plans to use the
refrigerants are still in progress.
Two air conditioners soon to be in
stalled in Baldwin Hall and Russell Hall
contain HCFC-123, a toxic chemical
which may cause cancer-like symptoms
in individuals exposed to leaked materi
al.
In the most recent experiments, test
animals developed enlarged livers, atro
phy of the eyes, pancreatic tumors in fe
males and testicular tumors in males af
ter extensive exposure to the proposed re
frigerant. Despite these effects, the
chemical is widely used.
"There are so many ifs’ on this, as
with any refrigerant," said Jim
Morgenthaler, chairman of the staff
health and safety committee, who re
searched and presented a report on the
chemical to Staff Council. “The most im
mediate danger is if any leakage occurs,
it can get in your lungs and suffocate
you."
‘If any leakage occurs, it
can get in your lungs and
suffocate you.’
- Jim Morgenthaler
chairman of staff health
and safety committee
Despite Staff Council and Physical
Plant requests fall quarter for an inves
tigation into the leakage hazards of the
air conditioners, several other large units
containing HCFC-123 are already in the
planning stage.
Physical Plant will install a unit in
Russell by next month and another unit
in Baldwin by next spring. HCFC is be
ing used for these units because it’s
adaptable to these models.
Two other large units with the refrig
erants will be installed by University
Campus Planning in the SPACE Center
and Law Center upon their completion.
A human safety issues management
team was created to investigate the issue
and guarantee that safety precautions
are followed.
Bryndis Roberts, vice president for le
gal affairs and chair of the team, said the
team is made up of staff members from
the University, Physical Plant, campus
planning and environmental safety ser
vices.
Many staff members said although
they still feel uneasy about using the tox
ic refrigerants, they hope the new com
mittee and staff concerns will guarantee
that full safety measures are followed.
HCFC is considered to be at least 100
times more toxic than the present refrig
erants.
Lois Morrison, chair of the staff equi
ty and fairness in the workplace commit
tee, said they’re concerned about the
Physical Plant employees who will work
with the air conditioners.
“One of the staffs primary concerns
was to make sure Physical Plant employ
ees are aware of the hazards of HCFC-
123 and are educated about the safety
precautions needed when working with
the air conditioners," Morrison said.
Precautionary detectors, which will be
installed in the machine rooms, will be
expensive, and may cost as much as
$15,000. Vapor detectors sensitive to
leakage of HCFC-123 cost about $4,500
each. Installation of ventilators and pur
chases of self-contained breathing appa
ratus could cost an additional $10,000.
According to Morgenthaler’s report,
even if the trap devices work perfectly
and service personnel are extra cautious,
it will be impossible to reduce the risk of
leaks to zero.
James TenBrook, director of Physical
Plant, however, said the possibility of a
leak is still very low.
TenBrook said he still feels a little un
easy about using the refrigerant, and he
thought it was “appropriate" that em
ployees raised concerns.
Terry Russell, an electrician in the
Physical Plant, said he’s still worried
about using the air conditioners.
“We didn’t stop them from using
HCFC, but I think safety will be much
tighter now," Russell said. “I hope the in
stallers will be more careful now that
we’ve raised concerns."
The chemical, hydrochlorofluorocar
bon, is planned to be phased out by the
year 2020 because of its ozone-depleting
potential.
SGA: Bradberry’s plans for
students already realized
From page 1
es to give incentives for recy
cling; got bike paths on campus;
simplified student processes such
as fee payment and deferment,
registration, purchasing football
tickets and the meal plan; creat
ed a polling site at the Tate
Student Center; pushed for a two-
way bus route on Milledge
Avenue; nor begun a safe ride
program with local bars to reduce
DUIs.
Bradberry said one reason
some of his plans were never ad-
The University will
have computerized
registration by 1994
and recycling
dumpsters outside
residence halls.
dressed is that he had to priori
tize his issues.
“A lot of things came up
throughout the year," he said. “I
probably would have had to drop
out of school to get everything ac
complished."
And the future?
Bradberry said student gov
ernment has already begun pro
jects which will be implemented
within the next year.
For example, there will be
computerized registration by
1994 and recycling dumpsters
outside all residence halls for bet
ter convenience. And work is pro
gressing on Bradberry’s proposed
campus polling site, as well as the
addition of a bus on the Milledge
route.
Bradberry said his adminis
tration has not only developed a
better working relationship with
the administration, but also with
students. He said this year’s vot
er turnout - 1,251 more than last
year - and the number of candi
dates who ran, is an example of
greater student interest in SGA.
“As far as the future goes," he
said, “I want to see student gov
ernment become a strong force for
change on this campus, and I
think we're seeing that happen
here - and I think this year has
been the greatest jump in that di
rection."
Elected Tuesday as a sopho
more senator for next year,
Bradberry is far from ending his
influence on campus and student
life.
Tm going to help the next
president in the new SGA as
much as they want me to," he
said.
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Trade agreement crucial for America
U.S. relations with
Mexico, economic
growth at stake
By MAURA CORRIGAN
Staff Writer
Although the North American Free Trade
Agreement may initially create problems for
the countries involved, it will ultimately ben
efit the economies of and improve the rela
tionships between the United States, Canada
and Mexico, said Robert Pastor, professor of
political science at Emory University.
Pastor, a specialist in Caribbean and Latin
American affairs at the Carter Center in
Atlanta who also served as National Security
Advisor under the Carter Administration, de
tailed to a crowd of about 70 in the University
Chapel the impacts of NAFTA’s lifting of
North American trade barriers in a guest lec
ture Wednesday.
“I believe that NAFTA is in our national in
terest," he said. “NAFTA will benefit our coun
try and our two partners in North America.”
Although the United States had proposed a
free trade agreement with Mexico under the
Reagan administration, it wasn’t until 1990,
when Mexican president Carlos Salinas pro
posed an agreement to former President Bush,
that NAFTA began to take shape.
Pastor said that NAFTA will temporarily
create a loss in U.S. jobs and provoke trade
problems because of the increased flow of
trade, but it will create more jobs in the long
run.
It will also reduce currently existing walls
within North America, increase the growth of
U.S. exports and could help U.S. industries
gain a new competitive advantage interna
tionally, he said.
Many people fear that environmental prob
lems in Mexico will skyrocket with NAFTA’s
proposed industrialization in the country and
that rampant loss of American jobs will also
result, but Pastor said the relationship be
tween the United States and Mexico will de
teriorate if-NAFTA isn’t passed.
“If the U S. rejects NAFTA, it will set rela
tionships back decades,” he said.
Currently under two rounds of negotiations
by the Clinton Administration and Mexican
officials, NAFTA will enter its third round of
negotiations in about two weeks, Pastor said.
Loch Johnson, professor of political science
and a member of the audience, said the cur
rent rounds are important in settling disputes
about labor and environmental problems.
“I think these two rounds of negotiations
going on now will help iron out some of the
major points of dispute,” he said.
The third round should be completed by
summer, and by fall or the end of the year,
Congress should pass the treaty, Pastor said.
NAFTA could take effect by Jan. 1, 1994.
“Clinton has asserted that he’s committed
to completing NAFTA," Pastor said. “But
NAFTA is just the beginning."
Pastor said Mexico’s tariffs will have to be
reduced more than those of the United States,
and Mexico will have to work hard to reach
U.S. environmental standards. Mexico will
also require a lot of funding to fulfill the goals
of the treaty.
“Some people argue that (NAFTA’s) just
another development that creates greater en
vironmental problems,” Pastor said. “But
Mexico can begin to clean up its environment."
The 2,000-plus page treaty is complicated
because it aims to integrate three very differ
ent economies, Pastor said. But it’s pertinent
in improving the history of U.S.-Mexico rela
tions, he said.
“I felt like I was walking on egg shells when
I was in the White House," Pastor said.
“America’s actions have a profound effect on a
lot of things in Mexico.”
It’s therefore particularly important that
the United States work to maintain good rela
tions with its 815-mile border nation, he said.
Mexico is also America’s third largest trade
partner in the world. It’s a principal source of
oil and energy and has social bonds with the
United States.
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