Dear colleagues:

I have serious concerns about safety of our work environment. Today the air
conditioners did not work in Grote Hall, and the faculty members who's
offices do not have windows (and the majority of faculty offices do not
have windows in Grote Hall!!) were suffocating at their work places. We can
open a door to the corridor, but it doesn't solve the problem, because the
corridors do not have a source of ventilation either. Unfortunately, this
problem is a constant one. The air supply devices in Grote Hall get broken
or turned off very frequently, almost every week. I have been here for 6
years, and it looks like there is no solution to this problem. And this is
not a problem with just my office: I asked other people in Grote, and the
problem is the same.

I am very frustrated, because this air outage has ruined my day. Monday is
the day when I do not have classes and I use it for class preparation for
the week and other office work.  I cannot do this work at home, because all
my information is in the desktop computer, and my books are also here. And
I am here to be able to communicate with students if they stop by. So I
planned to spend at least 8 hours in the office. As a result of today's air
outage I was not able to accomplish even 50% of what I have planned to, and
have developed a very bad headache. My productivity was way below average!!
I understand that equipment gan get broken, that it can be an emergency,
but I do not understand why the same problem happens week after week, with
no end to it.

I would really appreciate if somebody can suggest a solution. Thank you.

Dr. Tatiana Allen
Associate professor of Physics
Physics, Geology and Astronomy,
Department 2352
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga,
615 McCallie Ave., Chattanooga, TN 37403, USA
tel/fax  (423)-755-4520; fax (423)-755-4279;
e-mail  [log in to unmask]
Internet: http://www.utc.edu/~tbilgild