Explosive chemicals found at USC Med Center
Bomb squad detonates 50 pounds of ether, picric acid discovered during routine check
By Holly Houston
Assistant City Editor
The Los Angeles Fire Department found about 50 pounds of highly explosive ether and picric acid last Thursday on the Health Sciences campus at the USC/County Medical Center.
Both substances had been left for more than 18 months in one of the research laboratories on the fifth floor of Hoffman Hall, said Vance Peterson, director of Academic Relations.
The material was removed by a Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad and detonated at the Sepulveda Dam because of its dangerous state.
The fire department routinely checks all the laboratories that contain subst-
ances which are potentially dangerous if left for more than 18 months on the shelf, Peterson said.
The university has an open invitation for the fire department to conduct a
'Old ether is very unstable and there could have been an explosion since it had crystallized/
check, which is usually done every few months. The materials were used by a researcher who left the university and the other researchers either did not notice the substances had crystallized or
were not aware of their potential danger, Peterson said.
Immediately after finding the substances the fire department contacted the bomb squad to dispose of the materials by detonation.
"Old ether is very unstable and there could have been an explosion since it had crystallized," said a bomb squad spokesman. “Or if the ether had been bumped and been subjected to an extreme change in heat, it could easily have exploded.
"We also had to detonate a container of ether from another hospital which was left in the laboratory for over 15 years."
Tne problem with the random investigations, Peterson said, is that all laboratories are not checked at every inspec-
'Both substances had been left for more than 18 months in one of the research laboratories on the fifth floor of Hoffman Hall/
tion. "We are working on getting more safety officers so we can keep a better control," he said.
Former LAS aide to be sentenced for grand theft
A former administrative aide in the Department of Humanities will be sentenced this Friday in Superior Court on a single charge of grand theft after embezzling $51,000 in university funds.
Kathy Vadasz, 29, entered a plea of no contest to the charge. She faces a maximum of three years in prison.
A second charge of grand theft involving 522.000 . in university funds was dismissed.
The department discovered the irregularity two years after Vadasz quit her job.
The district attorney's office said Vadasz set up a secretarial company and charged the department for services not performed.
Volume LXXXIX, Number 1
Undersea research facility set for Catalina Island
trojan
University of Southern California
Tuesday. September 16, 1980
A manned undersea research facility will be built at the university's Institute for Marine and Coastal Studies on Catalina Island through a cooperative agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The university will receive $200,000 from the administration to create a conceptual design for an underwater habitat, a process expected to take about 15 months.
Designated by the administration as th<i Western Regional Undersea Laboratory program (WRUL), the habitat will be made available to qualified marine researchers.
Research will concentrate on problems and characteristics of the southern Pacific coast, including basic marine biology, fisheries research, kelp bed ecology, marine pollution and human physiology.
The habitat will allow marine scientists to live and work underwater from five to seven days at a time.
Anchored on the floor of Big Fisherman's Cove, just offshore from the Catalina Marine Science Center, the habitat will be designed for easy launch and retrieval. When not in use it will be stored in a waterfront hanger.
An umbilical cord linking the habitat with onshore facilities will provide power, water, communications, low-pressure breathing air, high-pressure scuba air and data gathering cables.
Shore support facilities include the center's laboratory, hyperbaric chamber and support vessels.
Don Walsh, director of the univerisity's Institute for Marine and Coastal Studies, said designers and scientists will be dealing with the psychological problems of working for extended periods of time in temperate waters under a "saturation diving" conditions — when a diver's body tissues are saturated with nitrogen.
Experiments with saturation dives are usually severly restricted due to depth and time limitations of conventional diving gear.
The habitat will also allow scientists to carry on experiments with equipment that would normally be too large or unwieldy for use with scuba gear.
Staff photo by Hugh Robinson
SURVEY OF DESTRUCTION — Virginia Rodriques (left) and Terry Murphy (right) inspect the remains of the fourth floor of Founder's Hall. The addition to the building has forced the English Department and the School of Religion to move to the second floor, displacing the debate squad. See story page 2.
Student Senate chairman resigns
Cites academic, financial conflicts
Rick Wacula, elected chairman of the Student Senate last spring, formally resigned his position last week before his term had begun.
He resigned because of conflicts with "personal academic objectives. . .mounting personal financial concerns. . .and responsibilities and obliga-
‘l am assuming that at the time he was elected, he didn't realize the time the position would take/
tions to myself, family and friends (which) are dominant and primary," cited in his resignation letter.
A senior in business administration, Wacula failed to maintain a full-time course load last semester. The letter questioned "whether such service (as chairman) be allowed or whether such service be sought by me in light of the academic costs."
Colette Benton, who stepped in as interim chairman from her position as undergraduate vice-chair, said the general reaction by senators was shock.
"I am assuming that at the time he was elected, he didn't Tealize the time the position would take," said Charlie Ambelarg, Student Senate consultant.	•
Benton and other senators were not informed until last week of Wacula's action, possibly "so there wouldn't be rumors and it would be the final decision," Benton said.
"It is, however, my understanding that he is not resigning from his senate seat on the Row constituency," Benton said "We haven't received any letter of resignation from his senatorial position."
Wacula was unavailable for comment.
Current senate by-laws and election codes do not specify how to fill vacancies of elected positions on the senate's executive committee. The senate will meet Wednesday afternoon to discuss replacement procedures, by new election or otherwise.
"By the following Wednesday (Sept. 24), there will be a new chairman. I'm not sure yet if I want to hold the position," Benton said
Student senators have not heard from Wacula since the announcement, and were not able to contact him. They expect him to attend the Wednesday meeting.