RELIEF IN SIGHT FROM CAMPUS HEAT; 2 COLLEGES PREPARE FOR AIR CONDITIONING.Byline: Robert Monroe Staff Writer As San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. temperatures climbed into the 100s Tuesday, there was a sign of cooler times to come at Pierce and Valley colleges. Crews were busy installing air conditioning air conditioning, mechanical process for controlling the humidity, temperature, cleanliness, and circulation of air in buildings and rooms. Indoor air is conditioned and regulated to maintain the temperature-humidity ratio that is most comfortable and healthful. on both campuses, where perspiration perspiration: see sweat. perspiration Fluid given off by the skin as vapour by simple evaporation or as sweat actively secreted from sweat glands to evaporate and cool the body. has mingled with inspiration for decades. But neither college will feel any relief during the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Community College District's first week of school - which promises to be hot. Officials at Pierce hope to fire up an innovative system - powered by a combination of electricity and natural gas - by the end of September. Valley won't have its more conventional units ready until the unsweltering month of December. ``It was so crazy hot,'' said Pierce freshman Sarah Godel who took her first psychology class at 11:30 a.m. ``The last few days have been, like, the hottest of the whole summer.'' The temperature at Pierce peaked at 102 degrees Fahrenheit around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. Highs during the rest of the week will range from the high 90s to low 100s. They will stay that way until a slight cooling trend begins over the weekend - when classes are out. Lows will be in the low 60s, about five degrees above normal, said National Weather Service meteorologist Bruce Rockwell. The higher temperatures follow what weather observers call an unseasonably cool summer until now. Average June and July highs in Los Angeles this year were three degrees cooler than historical averages. In Glendale the high Tuesday was 88 and the low was 60 degrees. But even a cool summer is a hot one in the classrooms at Pierce, students said. ``Sometimes it's so hot, you can't think straight,'' said third-year Pierce student Moshe Holdstein. Frank Vitone, the college's heating and air conditioning supervisor, said he once recorded temperatures of 119 degrees Fahrenheit in the cafeteria. Valley will install air-conditioning units next to 11 buildings and will transfer a few jerry-rigged wall units to the only buildings on campus that won't get new air conditioners Conditioners used on leather take many shapes and forms. They are used mostly to keep leather from drying out and deteriorating. A very old and widely used conditioner is dubbin. - the ``temporary'' bungalows at the south end of campus in which students have broiled broil 1 v. broiled, broil·ing, broils v.tr. 1. To cook by direct radiant heat, as over a grill or under an electric element. 2. To expose to great heat. v. since the school opened in 1949. Pierce assembled $6 million in state energy grants and its own money to install air conditioning in 12 buildings, which will receive air cooled at a central plant. Vitone said Pierce has tried to hoist hoist: see winch. units onto rooftops in a piecemeal attempt to cool the campus. Vitone said the new system is proof of Pierce's progress. It might also finally take some of the heat off him. ``Sometimes I'm the one who gets shouted at the loudest,'' he said. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1) Students Dulce Perez, front, and Maria Rasidakis fan themselves during a lecture. (2) A device to chill water is part of the new air-cooling system at Pierce College In 2006 the Library won a national Excellence award. Academics Pierce College offers associate's degrees, mainly in the arts and sciences. There are also certificate programs in early childhood education, social services, dental hygienist, and others. . Evan Yee/Staff Photographer |
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