by Jeffrey Mu ’24
The pathway from O’Donnell directly to the first floor of Carney has been closed off, according to an email sent out to Bellarmine faculty and staff on April 13, at 10:22 am.
When students left for spring break, many classrooms in Lokey and the library were without power. As they return this week, power has been restored to all facilities throughout campus. That is the work of the generators, which have been installed at the back of Carney, adjacent to Elm Street as students head to Teaqueria.
A widespread outage across the Bellarmine campus is rare. Many questions have been raised about the electrical outage that could have been addressed the week of break. The email, sent by Ms. Arriola, cites the initial reason for the outage to be due to moisture levels on the wires, which connect Lokey to a power grid that all buildings share. But as San Jose has seen significant rain over the last three weeks, would the new wires be effective replacements?
Other issues about the presence of the generators and the duration of time they take up the space have been asked. The email hints that for the rest of the year, due to backlogs on shipping, power may be temporarily down during the evening hours, when students have left campus. In addition, administration suggests that to conserve power, air-con will likely not be used throughout the year, which will have a heavier impact as the days get warmer.
So whether you are taking Physics 9 on the first floor of Carney or Environmental Science at the bottom of the amphitheater, you may hear the buzzing of the generator behind the building. Unfortunately, this buzzing may remain the rest of the year. Bells are advised to walk around Carney in order to get to their classes, and refrain from staying too close to the site.
Jeffrey Mu is the Editor-in-Chief of the Bell Online. Check out his articles on this website documenting student life and the Bellarmine experience.