News Brief: Thursday, January 20,2000

Harrison loses heat for six hours "It's not as warm as it should be. Some people said they were getting cold air instead of heat -- like air conditioning air," said Harrison Residential Advisor and Wharton senior Anjana Pandey, before heat was restored. "But I haven't really had many residents come and complain." After the pipe burst, the hot water tank connected to the heating system in Harrison had to be drained. However, the supply of hot water that feeds into residents' showers, kitchens and bathrooms was never affected, Harrison House Dean Art Casciato said. According to Casciato, repairs to the pipe were completed last night. He also noted that there is no long-term damage to the building's plumbing or heating systems. Though students said the lack of heat was a discomfort, Casciato said that the incident was actually fairly minor. "We were very lucky -- repairs were just a matter of putting the pipe back together," Casciato explained. "It could have been much worse, had a much bigger mess to clean up." Hot water was shut off earlier yesterday for routine repairs, but Casciato said this was unrelated to the pipe bursting later that day. -- Stacy Humes-Schulz