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Ford's Focus
 It's been a big week with a lot of changes. We cheered this year's winners of the Spirit of Physical Plant Awards as well everyone who pitched in to deal with last Friday's flooding.
We bid farewells to some of our longest-term retirees as well as welcomes to our new employees and OPP family members.
I hope everyone has a SAFE, happy, and dry Independence Day Weekend. |
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Safety Record
We had a few painful injuries this week. Be careful out there!
 One employee sustained a
hernia lifting a 20-foot length of pipe and offers others a cautionary tale:
"I have been lifting and handling 20-foot lengths of pipe for years here, and I never thought I could get injured doing it. It happened so quickly, and it's really painful. Now I'm going to need surgery."
One employee cut their lower arm on a fluorescent light tube and received several stitches, while another punctured their wrist with a hand tree saw.
Finally, an employee bruised their wrist with an impact wrench.
 As always, please report all safety hazards, near miss incidents and safety success stories.
Call us at 863-2340.
Visit us, or even drop a note outside our office in 103 Physical Plant.
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Announcements & Reminders
 It is with great pleasure that we are announcing the Winners and Honorable Mentions for the 2013 Spirit of Physical Plant Awards. The reception for all nominees will be held later this year. Drum roll... the envelopes please... Custodial Technical Service Staff Please congratulate our Winners and Honorable Mentions when you see them!
Brown Bag Lunch Energy Series  You're invited to learn how energy and utilities play a vital role in climate change and document the efforts of the folks at OPP to reduce Penn State's carbon footprint. All sessions will be held from 12 pm to 1 pm in OPP 105 A/B (don't forget to bring your lunch!). Session 1: Utilities - July 8 Session 2: Buildings - July 12 Session 3: Climate - July 24 University Collaboration Suite - Sweet!
The Finance & Business Central Office has moved into the University Collaboration Suite (UCS). Until your unit is also moved into this system, you may not be able to view our calendars, and we may not be able to view your calendars. Please feel free to contact our office for any calendaring questions you may have. Your flexibility during this transition is appreciated.
Annual Drinking Water Quality Report
Did you know that campus water comes right from our backyard?
Learn all the details in the latest OPP water confidence report available here.
HR Training & ITS Announce Wedding Plans HR Training and ITS are partnering to facilitate your IT training needs! Focus groups hosted by HR Training are currently underway to discuss and plan your future IT related training requirements. This includes discussions about technology, self-service options (Lynda.com), IT training available here through resources at OPP, and IT training available throughout Penn State. The HR Training department is excited to facilitate these events to bring technology to the forefront of our minds as workforce development takes an innovative step into the future.
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Cheers
Emergency Demand Response Puts PSU in the Black
Last week Penn State proved that during a power emergency, we have to capability to cut our electricity usage by 30%!
Mike Prinkey wrote to thank the OPP crews who worked behind the scenes during the EDR event.
"We performed well during the test, averaging 25MW during the hour with our payment target at 28MW."
Ford Stryker also commended the effort, "Thanks to all for your efforts to demonstrate our ability to shed load. It may come in handy and can potentially save us a lot of money."
 Pictured here is Dick Harris working by the light of his monitor. Eugene Grogan, Director of Business Services in Worthington Scranton wrote: "I just wanted to give everyone a "thank you" for the work that your electrical crew has done for us. The work they performed was fantastic , and the campus experienced little disruption from what was outlined in the schedule that was put together...we ARE DEFINITELY better now than we were on Monday!"
Michael Chura had a similar report from Hazleton.
"Just wanted to let you know I thought the electrical testing done on our campus couldn't have gone any smoother. You have a great team of professionals there, and it really shows. You guys were fast and yet very thorough at the same time and are to be commended for a job well done! Once again it's great to know we have support from our friends at UP."
Top Shelf Food Service Clay Barkley, Director of Distribution and Production in the Food Services Building, spent special thanks to several of our technicians: "I must tell you how impressed I am with your team and the work they performed last week for the Foods Building. The sky lights went in, the tractor trailer looks great, and the benches are amazing. All the workmanship was top notch. Please tell your team how much we appreciate their fine efforts. Thank you!" Sign Shop: Dave McCool Roofers: Bob Aikey, Scott Smith, Gerald Bruss, Ashley Dutrow, Dave Brouse Shop Carpenter: Rob Knapik Shop Painter: John Daulby Keeping Our Heads above Water
 Steve Maruszewski sent out a special thanks after the heavy rains last Friday evening. As he points out, "Even this list does not capture the incredible flurry of activity. Our employees did an exemplary job of minimizing the damage and allowing University operations to continue relatively unaffected the next morning."
3rd shift grade 9s helped with water pick-ups across campus. 2nd shift custodial worked several hours overtime, primarily in Housing facilities.
Area 1
Severe flooding took place all evening at Redifer. Custodial directed 6-8 people to pick up water constantly. The condition currently exists, nobody from housing has showed up yet.
Area 2
Pond had major flooding in its basement. Matteer had moderate flooding, and Sparks had minor flooding.
Area 3
Water pickup was completed in Engineering Unit A, 105B Eng Unit B, Steidle, Sackett, and Hamond third floor.
Area 4
Health & Human Development East had roof leaks. Roof leaks due to new roof being installed. Water in Rooms - 309, 206B, 206E 205 Hallway, 201B, 129A&B, Grand Entrance way, first floor entranceway, ground lounge. Wartik's drains backed up from emergency exists into classrooms: Water backed up through a steam tunnel in Mueller.
Area 5
Ag Admin had numerous roof leaks , while the Visual Arts basement flooded and the Forum had moderate flooding.
Area 6
Water came in to the Millennium Science Building from doors into the basement and from the doors leading out onto the roof.
Coordinator of Coordinators Lisa Ammerman from Information Sciences and Technology sent a special note of congratulations to Georgia Gasperich.
"I want to commend you on the HUGE improvement you have made with the FC communications. The fact that you came around to meet all of us individually was a very nice touch. Your spirit and enthusiasm is much appreciated. The FC listserv was one of my wishes and you had that up and running in no time at all. You are very efficient and thorough and the snacks at the meetings are very generous and appreciated!"
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Welcomes & Farewells
 We welcome Ashlyn Leigh Steel to the OPP family. She was born on June 29th at 12:35 am to Kirstin Steele (Work Control Center) and Adam Steele (Utilities Construction). She weighed in at 7 lbs. and 11 oz. and was 22.5 inches long. Her parents are doing their best to keep her fresh and sanitary. OPP welcomes Thomas Derr. He will be the new OSEH Specialist at EHS. He is new to the University and his first day was July 1. Nelson Hite has accepted a grade 9 position as Maintenance Worker Utility in Chemistry. His first day was July 1. Laurie Rickert will be transferring from Food Services to District 33 Custodial and will be reporting to Mike Habovick. Laurie started on July 1. Todd Nearhood has accepted a Heat & Vent Tech in Central Support Services and will report to Michael Jackson. He began work last Monday. Mark Yetter has accepted a Custodial position within district 53. He is transferring from Auxiliary & Business Services and began work on June 30. Amber Shaw began work in the Work Reception Center on July 1. She is new to the University. David Robb is the new Custodian in district 52. He began work on July 1 and is new to the University. Farewells We have a number of people moving on from OPP to other parts of the University or to well-earned retirement. We wish all of them the very best. Biff Myers will be leaving OPP to take on a new position with Auxiliary & Business Services on July 8. Ron Ondo's last day was June 28 as well. He joined Penn State in November of 1990. Pump Mechanic Larry Dubbs will be retiring on Friday, July 12. He began work in April of 1984. Gina Lyons retired on June 29 from the Work Reception Center. She started work at Penn State in 1981. Phillip Blazer, HVAC Maintenance Mechanic, was hired in 1981 and his last day was June 28th. Tim Wian will be leaving OPP Stores on July 8 for a new position in Auxiliary & Business Services. He's been at Penn State since February of 1982. Larry Hoy retired as the Lead Maintenance Mechanic for Utility Piping on June 28. Larry has been with the University since 1979.
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A Day in the Life of an...
Environmental System Technician
Tim Zerby has worked for Penn State for nearly 35 years. In all that time, Tim has worked every day of the year except Christmas day. He once spent a New Year's day in Boucke Building checking out a bookcase reportedly screwed to a wall. It turned out to be frozen to the floor due to a water leak and cold temperatures.
 "We often had 12-14 guys on holiday duty in those days and the Service Desk kept us busy. When I started at OPP we didn't have computers, and the Service Desk was located in the front lobby." The Sorority Melted My Candles and TV Set There was a water break in Heister Hall one super cold day. The heat crew responded and found 223 degree water all over the sorority lounge. The water was so hot it destroyed the ceiling and floor tiles as well as the sorority television set. The TV casing was totally melted and a set of ceremonial candles turned into wax puddles except for the wicks left standing straight up! The Floating Carpet Sauna Tim's crew once answered an emergency call at East Halls and found carpets floating in the hallways. They couldn't get into the study lounge because the room was so hot that the steam took their breath away. When things cooled enough to get in, they found a group of students on the upper balcony of the lounge. They yelled at the crew, "
Hey, don't turn that off! We finally have a sauna bath in our dorm, and we kind of like it!"
Tactical Tim's Flame Throwing Rocket Launcher
Tim has spent many years in the Pennsylvania National Guard. After 7 years in a line company, his Captain invited him to Tactical Operations HQ. There he was selected to operate the M202 Flash, a formidable shoulder based 66mm, incendiary rocket launcher. The same weapon can be seen in the movie Commando starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. "I remember walking out to the firing line on a hot day sweating like crazy, my heart pounding madly, my mind focusing on the process. Extend weapon, arm same, aim same, shot same. You always make sure that the back blast area is clear because the rear of the weapon is as deadly as the front. The back blast is lethal up to 50 meters! Never stand behind Tim when he's engaged!
See video of the M202 in use or the Commando movie trailer.
Off Duty
Tim likes to play golf and hunt whitetail, turkey, and bear. When he started working at Penn State, the Blue/White Course fees were $120 a year, now they are $1,500 a year (and those are the staff rates). In 1979 Tim's original wage pay was $2.65 an hour. He also remembers buying 5 gallons of gas for his snowmobile and spending only $2. In retirement he plans on catching up with work at his family camp near Penn's Cave, and making yearly forays to Ocean City, Md. and the Grange Fair. OPP will greatly miss Tim at work and we sincerely wish that he has a great retirement and comes back to visit once in awhile.
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Up for Grabs
ITEM: Missing Cat
 Please help us find our cat CONTACT: Greg DeVoir & Colleen Heckard
DEPARTMENT: OPs
PHONE: 814-762-9048
DESCRIPTION: Our cat got of his carrier in the Animal Medical Hospital's parking lot the afternoon of June 25. Please respond to this post if you see an orange cat in that area. You may see him near any of the nearby businesses, such as Applebee's and Trader Joe's, or a nearby neighborhood, such as Woodycrest. People should not try to catch him (he will just run).
FOR SALE: Universal Home Gym
 PRICE: $650.00 CONTACT: Nancy Antes
DEPARTMENT: Central Services
PHONE: 814-692-4731 only Mondays thru Fridays 8 am to 4 pm.
DESCRIPTION: 2 convenient work stations that include both upper and lower body exercise workouts. Actual weights not bands - from 10 lbs. up to 150 lbs. Original instruction manual included. Gym will need disassembled before moving.
Any OPP employee can post an item FOR FREE with their name, department, and e-mail address.
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EHS Tips:
Residential Recycling: How do I get rid of ...?
Almost everyone these days knows how to recycle glass, plastic, and newspaper that are produced in the home.
 But as an employee at OPP, you may not be aware of the many items that we recycle including used motor oil, antifreeze, and batteries, and are wondering where you can recycle these home-generated items.
Making sure that these items are handled properly is important for many reasons. Some of us older folk can remember when used oil was regularly sprayed on dirt/gravel roads to prevent dust. We now know that rain will wash these materials into streams, the soil, and possibly into ground water. Many times people practiced "back door dumping," which creates the same type of pollution problem.
The answer is not always a landfill. There are better ways to handle many materials such as used motor oil and antifreeze, fluorescent light tubes, compact fluorescent bulbs, and household hazardous waste.
The Department of Environmental Protection has a great website that allows you to search by material for locations near your home. Follow the "Where to Recycle" link on the left hand side of the page. There are all kinds of interesting things you can recycle there including your old tennis shoes! Earth 911 is also a great way to find recycling locations.
Here's a partial list of some items you can recycle:
- Agricultural plastics (including flower pots and flats)
- Used cooking oil
- Used motor oil
- Rechargeable batteries
- Cell phones
- Old sneakers/shoes
- Eyeglasses
- Antifreeze
Household hazardous waste includes many items that can't be recycled, or that need to be treated more carefully. These items include: pesticides, pool chemicals, cleaners, poisons, corrosives, flammables, and oil based paints. Centre County has scheduled a collection of these materials in April each year.
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Photo of the Week
 Rob Cooper organized the first OPP Canyon Ride last week, and 10 brave souls tried to keep pace as Rob guided them through Spring Creek Canyon to Fisherman's Paradise. The rider's saw turkeys (real ones, not ones on a bike) and a few deer. Derek had a flat, and it took lots of OPP teamwork to fix the tire. Greg Andersen summarized the trip as 22.32 miles in 1:46:13 hrs., gained elevation of 822 ft., and 1,258 calories burned. Everyone else characterized the trip as lots of mud, sweat, and blood.
Riders:
Derek Kalp
Stephen Oskin
Greg Andersen
Steve Maruszewski
Harry Gebhardt
Mike Prinkey
Rick Riccardo
Bruce Smith
Rob Andrejewski
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Contact Us
If you have any comments or suggestions for News & Views, contact Alex Novak by e-mail or at 863-0432.
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