The Quad

Issue date: 9/17/07 Section: News

Due to a possible crack in floor area of the Chick-fil-A at Sykes Student Union, grease from the fryers has been seeping into the ceiling of the ground floor of the Union causing intermittent leaking, and consequently, people slipping.

Directly beneath Chick-fil-A is the Ram E Card office, where students receive identification card pictures and, incidentally, information on campus dining. Located to the right of the sign indicating the office name is a black bowl tied to a pipe which serves to catch any leakage from the ceiling.

Surrounding the circumference of the top of the pipe is caulking substance, attempting to seal the escaped grease, which has been done several times, according to an anonymous source. A caution sign remains directly beneath the bowl.

According to a staff member in the Union, the leaking seems to only happen when the school year begins. According to another staff member of the Union, the grease has dripped on people's heads.

In addition, the source said that he in fact slipped from a puddle during the first weekend of school.

The two anonymous sources said that the dripping has existed for approximately three years. Earlier this semester, Environmental Safety examined the issue.

Director of Sykes Student Union Dave Timmann said that "the first time we noticed it (dripping), we put a cup to collect it."

It has been over a year, according to Timmann, since the dripping has been noticed.

At one point in time, a bucket of sand was placed underneath the cup to prevent additional grease from landing on the floor.

The cup was changed, but earlier this week, according to Timmann, a member of the staff of the Sykes Student Union slipped. The grease went beyond the parameters of the cup and dripped onto the floor.

This was when the cup was removed again and replaced with the black bowl.

The black bowl, according to Timmann, covers more area and will serve as a temporary solution.

Although people have slipped, this is not a problem with excess grease in the fryers, according to Timmann.

Occasionally, a certain amount of grease can boil over, causing grease to go on the floor. Due to the hot temperature of the grease, it is able to seep into areas that are not visible behind the fryers, which eventually permeate into cracked concrete and, consequently, into the ceiling below.

Concrete can endure various cracks and fragmentation. One cause of cement fragmentation is thermal cracks which is due to a difference in temperature of the surface and interior concrete.

Continued...

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