Power outage scheduled for Saturday

The IU Physical Plant will shut down power in multiple buildings on campus from 3 p.m.-8 p.m. Saturday. \nThe IU Auditorium, Lilly Library, Woodburn Hall, Ernie Pyle Hall, Bryan House and Collins Living-Learning Center will lose power.\nThis controlled power outage was scheduled in an attempt to fix the original power outage that occurred on New Year’s Eve, when an electrical generator failed and several buildings relied on backup generators for power.\nA week later, on Jan. 6, that generator also failed, causing a mass power outage in the aforementioned buildings with the exception of Bryan House. \nBy 7 p.m. on the 6th, the IU Physical Plant had installed emergency generators at the IU Auditorium, Lilly Library, Woodburn Hall, Ernie Pyle Hall and Collins.\nMark Menefee, assistant director of utilities for the IU Physical Plant, explained that the initial problem was a circuit failure in the 12.5-volt system. During the shutdown, utility workers will “continue to look for bad pieces of circuits,” Menefee said.\n“This won’t be the last outage,” Menefee said. “We will have one more to make final repairs.” \nThe Physical Plant has not yet scheduled the final outage, though Menefee said it might occur in the next few weeks.\nResidents of Collins had mixed reactions to the news.\n“I think it’s very inconvenient,” freshman Richard Brush said. “I think we should get what we pay for.”\nThough all agree it might not be the most comfortable five hours of their week, most of the students interviewed accepted that in the end, the purpose of the outage is to their benefit.\n“It’s a necessary evil,” sophomore Austin Garcia said. “I mean, it’s gotta be done.” \nSophomore Lauren Muskat agreed. \n“I can deal with five hours,” she said, adding that the last – and much longer – outage did not cause any lasting damage.\nSeveral students interviewed said it didn’t bother them because they plan to leave Bloomington for the weekend. However, some, like freshman Jessie Gutgsell, said they worry about their electrical appliances such as refrigerators and clocks, regardless of if they are home or not. \n“I don’t want my computer shut down,” Gutgsell said. “I don’t even know why (they’re shutting off the power), but I’m sure it’s for a good reason.”\nFreshman Audrey Green agrees. \n“It’s good that they’re doing it on a Saturday,” she said. “I’m most worried about not being able to use my computer.” \nOn the timing, Menefee said the weather was a definite concern. \n“That’s why we waited. Last weekend was too cold,” Menefee said, adding that though it’s cold right now, they’re still going ahead with the outage because it is supposed to warm up.\nAssistant Campus editor Kaitlin Shawgo contributed to this report.