NEWS BRIEFS: Mortar Board to hold information session tonight

The meetings will be held in the Smith-Penniman Room of Houston Hall from 7 until 8 p.m. both nights. Applications may be picked up in the Office of Student Life and are due March 1. – Kara Blond HRS express elevator shifts to normal service after renovation As a finishing touch to a seven-month elevator refurbishing project in High Rise South, the building's express elevator was recently transformed for regular use. Previously, each high rise had one of its four elevators designated to stop only above the 15th floor. But according to Associate Director of Residential Maintenance Al Zuino, the express elevator in HRS is no longer necessary, since the new computer system that runs all four elevators is much more efficient. "By design, all the cars are much more responsive now," he said. The HRS elevator repairs, which started last summer, were complete by the end of last semester. According to Assistant Director of Residential Operations and Facilities Gordon Rickards, repairs will begin on the elevators in High Rise East next summer. "As we complete each elevator update, we will eliminate the express elevator," Zuino said. While Rickards feels that most students use express elevators for their intended purpose, many students report that they do not find them to be any faster. According to John Montgomery, a 24th-floor resident of HRS, the express elevator was not necessary in the first place. "Some people respected it, some didn't," the Engineering junior said. And Wharton sophomore Thomas Trujillo predicted that there will not be much of a difference when the express elevator in HRE is transformed next year, since many residents of the lower floors already treat it as a normal elevator. "If [the express elevator] happens to be open, I go ahead and use it," the eighth-floor resident added. – Monica Leas