News Briefs - May 2, 2005

By Maury Hirschkorn
News Editor

Items Stolen and Found
On the early morning of April 29th, a computer, computer speaker and cables were stolen from a room in Hendrix College. Those items were later found near the Student Union. (A television was also damaged in that room.)

Stony Brook Preparing For EPA Audit
The EPA will audit Stony Brook University starting on August 8th. To prevent incurring large fines from violations by the EPA, the university is currently implementing an internal audit to find potential violations. Those violations will be corrected now or disclosed to the EPA to be corrected later.

“We’ll be looking for labeling, secondary containment issues and paperwork manifests,” said Barbara Chernow, vice president for facilities and services.

“Labeling” is that containers with chemicals in them are labeled properly. “Secondary containment issues” is a safeguarding method used to prevent unplanned releases of toxic or hazardous materials into work areas. “Paperwork manifests” is documenting what is done to correct potential environmental problems.

Other potential violations the audit is looking for are oil tank leaks and proper light bulb disposal.

Another Fire On Campus
There was a small fire on the roof of the Staller Center on the morning of May 2nd. It was extinguished prior to the Fire Marshal’s arrival. This is the latest in a series of fires to occur on campus; at the end of April, there were four small fires reported to the University Police.

Money Budgeted For Southampton College Purchase
$30 million was included in the New York State 2005-2006 budget on April 18 for SUNY to purchase Southampton College. An additional $5 million was budgeted to improve Southampton’s sewage system.

Southampton College will be closing this fall; most of its curriculum will move to C.W. Post. Stony Brook University will take over Southampton College’s undergraduate marine sciences program and lease its marine science facilities there. President Shirley Strum Kenny said that Stony Brook has future plans to “take over” more of Southampton’s facilities.