CAMPUS NEWS

     Riddle: What University at Albany property is both old and new? Give up? The answer is: the recently rehabilitated Sayles Hall, one of the University's oldest student residence halls.
     Thanks to the efforts of Physical Plant Department staff - particularly of architect David Ono, construction manager Edward Morawski, on-site project manager Robert Morawski, and a team of 120 union labor employees - Sayles Hall has a new lease on life. It also has new roofing, plumbing, electrical systems, and lighting fixtures. Old carpeting was removed; floors were refinished; new ceilings and windows were installed. Every wall, door, window, and ceiling received one coat of primer and two coats of paint. Contractors created two new apartments - one for a resident director, the other for a resident professor. Second-floor bathrooms are now handicapped accessible; the public restrooms were gutted and rebuilt. A new vending lounge and laundry facilities were constructed. Students craving a late-night snack will be able to use the telephone - known as a “pizza phone” - now located in the foyer. 
     “Safety, security, and communications features were also upgraded,” explained Don Delmanzo, assistant vice president for facilities management. Steel fire-rated doors were installed, as was a mechanism that ensures access to the building by card only. Each student room was fitted with a local smoke detector; and data, phone, and video systems were rewired. Sayles even looks new from the outside: The façade was pressure washed. New sidewalks, a new parking lot, and a new blue light phone in the front yard complete the picture of old-fashioned charm enhanced by 21st-century technological and structural improvements.
     Vice President for Student Affairs James P. Doellefeld said he is delighted with the results. “It's wonderful to see one of Albany's first residence halls rehabilitated to perfect condition,” he said. Doellefeld praised Robert Morawski and other Physical Plant employees for doing “an absolutely marvelous job. They made a personal investment of their skill. Sayles Hall is a signature rehab project for Residential Life.”
     Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs Rod Hart '60, who recently visited the site with Doellefeld, was likewise pleased with the rehabilitation project. Recalled Hart: “I lived at Sayles Hall during the 1956-57 academic year. I'm thrilled to see that Sayles and Pierce have both been renovated. I've been very interested in the rehabbing, especially of Alumni Quad, given my undergraduate and graduate years here at the University, and my 34 years of service on the staff.”
     Final construction costs for the Sayles Hall project, which have yet to be calculated, are estimated at between $1.5 million and $1.8 million. The rehabilitation began last winter and concluded in September. 
     Sayles Hall is home to 111 Albany students.

     The Ninth Annual Alcohol Responsibility Week will be observed on the University campus Oct. 17-26. Trust the Facts is the theme of the week's events, which will culminate with a presentation by Mark Sterner on Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m. in the Campus Center Ballroom.
     Sterner will talk about his personal experience with drinking and driving. He was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at a college in Rhode Island when he and four fraternity brothers drove to Florida for spring break. According to Sterner, he was driving his friends from bar to bar on the last night of the break when he was involved in a car accident. Three of his friends and fraternity brothers were killed in the crash. Sterner was sentenced to 23 months in a Florida prison for three felony counts. While serving his time, he spoke to more than 100,000 students about the dangers of drinking and driving.
     The week's events are being coordinated by the University Counseling Center and the Division of Student Affairs, and are co-sponsored by more than a dozen organizations, including Students Against Destructive Decisions and the Student Association.
     Workshops are scheduled throughout the week.
On Monday, Oct. 18, at 1:15 p.m. in Campus Center 375, there will be a workshop on how alcohol use increases the potential risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, presented by Health Educator Carol Stenger of the University Counseling Center.
Later that evening at 7:30 p.m. Julie Heslin will present Keep Your Eyes on Your Drink: What You Should Know About Roofies and GHB at the Indian Quad Penthouse.
     “Roofies” is the nickname for Rohypnol, the date rape drug. Heslin will talk about strategies female students can use to reduce the risk of someone drugging their drink. She is the coordinator for Sexual Assault Prevention and Education, and staff psychologist at the counseling center. Eve Sikora of the Albany County Rape Crisis Center will assist her.
     An interactive workshop will be given Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 2:45 p.m. in Campus Center 375, led by Danny Trujillo, coordinator for Alcohol and Drug Prevention and staff psychologist the counseling center. Called Beer Goggles: An Honest Discussion About Alcohol on Campus, the workshop will give students the chance to talk about drinking and its impact.
     On Wednesday, Oct. 20, at 1:15 p.m., there will be a victim impact panel in Campus Center 375 given by Mary Buscillion, and Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID).
     On Sunday, Oct. 24, from 6 to 9 p.m., the film A Reason to Believe will be shown in the Indian Quad Penthouse. Jay Underwood, Allison Smith and Danny Quinn star in this film about the problem of acquaintance rape in the college party scene. There will be a discussion after the film.