Vulcan Village residents being relocated after Vulcan Blizzard 2010
By Marc Stempka – News Editor
Details have been released by California University of Pennsylvania for students living at Vulcan Village buildings without power.
Students were urged to make alternative housing arrangements because power may not be restored for several days.
Buildings without power are 1, 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9.
Students walk along Third Street carrying supplies as an earthmover plows the street ahead of them after Vulcan Blizzard 2010.
Vice President of University Relations Angela Burrows confirmed that students who need shelter should come to the Natali Student Union.
Buses will be running Saturday evening to bring students to and from Vulcan Village and campus.
Vulcan Village staff is going door-to-door contacting students and informing them of the situation and plans. Vulcan Villages offices have been relocated to the fitness center while power is out.
Plans call for students to be able to spend however long is necessary in the union and have facilities available at Herron Hall for person needs.
Students are being told to bring all necessities, for example bedding, pillows and clothing.
Students began arriving in the union around 4 p.m. Saturday. Kayla Trybus (junior-psychology) was one of the first students to seek shelter in the performance center.
“It’s a little scary to not have power and like all the things that I thought I was going to be able to eat this weekend, I realized I’d need electricity for that,” Trybus said. “It was just kind of annoying, really. We actually had power that went out for about three days last year up there, too. So I felt like they should have known that this kind of thing could happen.”
Trybus said it is better to have somewhere warm to go, even if it may be an inconvienence.
Other students aren’t happy about the situation and are going to try staying in their apartments, despite the single-digit temperatures expected overnight. Sarah Swango (graduate student-arts in teaching) is going back to her apartment.
“So we all get an e-mail this morning that we were relocated down here to campus where we can stay overnight,” Swango said. “There’s going to be heat, there’s going to be food, and shower facilities are over in Herron. Fine. Great. So they tell us to shuttle. We shuttle down here and look how many people are here: there’s three of us or four of us.”
University officials and Vulcan Village management encourage students to seek shelter elsewhere.
Students with questions and concerns about housing during should call 724-322-8868 or 724-970-4034.
Assistant Director of Student Activities Tom Donovan said the union will be open 24-hours a day through the duration of the power outages.
Food is available at the Gold Rush Dining Hall during it’s normal hours, 4 to 7:30 p.m. Flatz will be open Saturday till 10 p.m. There are currently plans to make late night food available.
Trybus is planning on at least spending the night in the performance center to stay out of the cold.
“I would want other students to know that it was dangerous to stay up there with no heat and that there’s potential for their pipes to burst and for their apartments to flood,” Trybus said. “It’s going to be uncomfortable down here. It’s going to be loud probably, but it’s the best thing for everybody to do.”
Stay with the Cal Times for continuing coverage of the Vulcan Blizzard 2010.
I ended up staying here at Natali, and am currently camped out on a lounge couch. It’s not that bad, really. In fact, all my friends I’ve talked to who opted to stay up at Vulcan are highly jealous and mad they ignored advice and common sense. I’m warm, they’re not. It’s pretty awesome down here.