Burst pipe floods computer center

A ruptured cooling pipe that caused flooding in a major University computer center disrupted services for two to three thousand users yesterday. Data Communication and Computing Services Operations Director George McKenna said water poured into several offices and a wiring closet at 3401 Walnut Street shortly after 9 a.m., forcing office workers to relocate computers to the dryer offices of University Management Information Services. As a result, electronic mail and the name server computer, which facilitates connections between computers around the University, were disconnected for approximately half an hour. Less essential services like the e-mail user directory were not reconnected until 4:30 p.m., and some were still being fixed last night. In addition, because the building's air conditioning system was damaged, computers in the David Rittenhouse Computing Facility were also shut down, according to Facility Director Roy Marshall. McKenna, whose office was most severely damaged by the flood, said the pipe was damaged during construction of a new office directly above his. According to Vice Provost for Computing Carl Abramson, the computers that were moved will stay in the UMIS office until repairs are completed and tested. Physics professor Sherman Frankel tried to print out a quiz at the last minute for his noon Physics for Architects class, but he was prevented by the shutdown. Instead, he hand-wrote the quiz. "It was not a big problem," said Frankel last night. "I spent 30 years doing it by hand." Fans were set up to dry out office equipment damaged by the flood, and McKenna brought a hair dryer to his office to dry his computer work station and radio. Abramson said he would not know how much damage the flood caused until he has a chance to test the equipment today.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.