FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 28, 2009

Contact: K.E. Schwab  

724.738.2199

 karl.schwab@sru.edu

Electrical power back on at SRU; finals continue as scheduled

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Electrical power to nearly all of the lower campus at Slippery Rock University was restored at 4:10 p.m. today following nearly a full day of trying to identify the exact cause of a short circuit in a high-voltage delivery line.

            Campus buildings on the upper end of campus were only affected by short power interruptions Monday, but maintained power throughout Tuesday. The lower end of campus, including a number of classroom buildings, residence halls and Bailey Library, experienced brief outages throughout Monday as electrical crews from the University and Allegheny Power attempted to find the cause of the interruptions. A major malfunction at 6:30 p.m. Monday knocked out service to the lower area of campus and continued throughout the night into afternoon today.

            All buildings on campus reported a return to power, except the Robert N. Aebersold Student Recreation Center. The center will close early today and will offer limited hours through the end of the week. Workers remain to fix that problem, but no estimate about when full power would be back on at the center was available. 

            The electrical disruption caused the University to reschedule exams for today, the first day of finals week.

            “I want to commend the students, faculty and staff – and particularly our electrical crews for handing this difficulty,” said Robert Smith, SRU president. “Our emergency lighting in the residence halls combined with a well-trained residence hall staff provided security. Our students exhibited the level of maturity in handling this situation that we have come to expect. All are to be congratulated for making the best of a difficulty situation.”

            The University has elected to keep computer labs in Maltby Center, McKay Education Building and Strain Behavioral Science open on a 24-hour basis through Saturday to aid those students who may have had difficulty accessing a computer during the outage.

            With power restored, final exams will continue Wednesday through Saturday morning as scheduled. Commencement remains scheduled in two sessions in Morrow Field House: a 10:30 a.m. ceremony for graduates in Graduate Studies, the College of Health, Environment and Science and the College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts; and 2 p.m. for graduates in the College of Business, Information and Social Science and the College of Education.           Students with dining contracts were served at Weisenfluh Dining Hall Monday and today. The University’s Boozel Dining Hall will return to full service with breakfast Wednesday.

            The entire campus community is urged to continue to monitor the SRU Web site –

http://www.sru.edu – for the latest developments.

Slippery Rock University is Pennsylvania’s premier public residential university. Slippery Rock University provides students with a comprehensive learning experience that intentionally combines academic instruction with enhanced educational and learning opportunities that make a positive difference in their lives.