Error causes damage in Kinsey

By Timothy Kudo

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

More than one hundred computers and other electrical devices
were damaged in Kinsey Hall on June 19 after a facilities
maintenance worker made an error while replacing the
building’s transformers.

As part of a campus-wide upgrade of the high-voltage
distribution system, workers were replacing an old transformer in
Kinsey when wires were crossed and a 220-volt surge was sent
through the building, which normally takes 110 volts.

“Somebody made a mistake,” said Ron Calloway, the
manager of crafts and alterations for Facilities Management. He
added that an investigation is under way.

Though professors and staff housed in Kinsey were told to turn
off any electrical devices in preparation for scheduled repairs,
nearly anything with a transformer that was plugged into an
electrical socket at the time of the surge was damaged.

“When power comes into a computer, the first thing it goes
into is a transformer,” Calloway said. “Even when
it’s shut off, you’re still feeding voltage into a
computer at a low drain, so when it got hit with the high voltage,
it was shorted.”

In addition to computers, the power surge fried everything from
pencil sharpeners and copiers to surge protectors.

Because the damage was so extensive, many of Kinsey’s
operations were shut down as professors and staff members brought
in their personal laptops to try and do work.

“It’s basically brought the building to a standstill
for pretty much the entire week,” said Professor William
Schniedewind, the acting chair of the near eastern languages and
cultures department.

He added that the extent of the damage, especially in terms of
data loss, may take months to determine since many professors have
already left for vacations or to do research.

“Some faculty don’t even know what’s happened
to their computers,” Schniedewind said.

At the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Campus Resource
Center, four computers, two printers, three monitors, a microwave
and a clock radio were damaged.

“The only three things that didn’t get hit were the
TV and VCR because they weren’t plugged in, and the fax
machine because it’s from hell,” Steven Leider, the
office manager at the center said jokingly. “It’s
brought everything to a screeching halt.”

Ronni Sanlo, director of the LGBT center, wasn’t as
worried about the articles saved on her computers as she was about
the day-to-day material her office uses that hadn’t been
backed up for months.

“To be honest, I can’t even go there,” Sanlo
said. “It’s not as throat-slitting as it feels, but I
believe it’s going to be OK.”

To help fix the problem, facilities maintenance called in an
outside company, Call One, that specializes in computer
service.

“What we’re finding is the great majority of
machines that were damaged had their power supplies burnt,”
Calloway said.

As of Monday, Calloway expected nearly all the repairs to be
completed, but he added that the full extent of the damage would
take more time to determine since many professors are gone for the
summer.