Al Rossman just completed 42 years with Physical Plant. His daily routine began at 5:00 a.m. when he arrived and made coffee in the print room. Al would plan the day for his 14-person team, but his plans rarely survived more than a few hours, since daily emergencies always changed the workflow.
When Worlds Collide
"Our job title and job description doesn't represent what we actually do. Two years ago we separated part of our crew into a specialized tech unit. They take care of autoclaves, stills, and technical equipment. We also have a group to install new water softeners and take care of technical leaks, meaning they don't take care of sinks, faucets, and toilets. We usually work on large distribution units such as domestic hot water for an entire building."
"Thirty years ago OPP was called M&O, and engineers didn't talk to technicians. When I first started all the engineers and designers were in the basement of Old Main. We rarely met since we worked in completely separate buildings.Now we all share input and ideas. We never used to get involved in new construction and renovations. We are now asked to give input and share our knowledge in ways that improve the entire campus system. "
Green Algae from Inner Spaces
Penn State scientists often need super pure water and special pipes that have minimal leaching potential. Unfortunately, these pipes are semi-transparent. "We had a bad case of green algae growth in these pipes over in the Life Science Building. Light gets into the pipes and you have a little green garden growing in the pipe system. Once a green spot starts growing, it clogs up the filters and caused all kinds of problems. Everywhere piping ran under 24/7 emergency lighting, we would find little green colonies. The only way to clean it is to shut the entire building system down. Life Sciences is a huge building and this takes 4-5 days. Now we paint the storage tanks black and place light shields over pipes."
From One Army to Another
Prior to OPP, Al was in Vietnam for the Tet Offensive in 1968-69. He went over as a Private in the artillery and came back as a Sergeant in charge of a gun battery. He was assigned to a gun battery barge in the middle of a river. Navy vessels would tow them to various hot spots along canals and rice paddies. They had no motor and were vulnerable to enemy fire. The last time Americans used artillery on barges was back in the Civil War.
"One evening a group of us Pennsylvanians were sitting there reminiscing about being back in the world, when all of a sudden streaks of smoke, and whooshing mortar shells zeroed in on our position. We turned our guns around and took aim directly into the jungle. The enemy withdrew as soon as they saw that we were preparing to fire."
The barge approach was dropped in favor of air-lifting artillery units to fields in the middle of nowhere. Al got to spend his final month taking a lot of helicopter tours through the unfriendly skies of Vietnam. Al completed his service to the country and started with the OPP Labor Crew (now Central Support Services) in May of 1971.
At that time the crew was supervised by a retired Army 1st Sergeant.
"OPP was similar to the Army in those days. Our 15 minute break time was very strict, it was exactly 15 minutes, not 14 and certainly not 16. Things are a little looser today!"
Tech Training and Taxi Service
When Al started, he learned everything by watching other senior technicians and trying to improve the process. "When you tear apart a piece of equipment, always remember that you might be the one to work on it next time, so try to a way to make it easier to fix next time. Al then transitioned to equipment operator and ran cranes. I always tried to pitch in and do more than expected. I wanted to learn about mechanical things. If something was broken, I'd tear it apart just to find out why."
"Back in the '70s I was driving an OPP van up Pollock Rd. and there was this football player along the road. He waved me down and jumped in the van and shook my hand. He said, 'Hey, I'm Larry Coben and I play football for Penn State, can you take me to Shields Building, I'm late.' What was I supposed to do...tell this guy to get out? I dropped him off at Shields, and I read later that he was drafted by the Washington Redskins, and also played for The Buffalo Bills and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers."
Retirement Plans
Al loves to do automotive repair work. He's a "Ford Guy" and has an antique '63 Ford Fairlane that he has completely rebuilt. He and his wife just bought a little cottage over in Warriors Mark near his favorite hunting grounds. Al has shot lots of deer and turkey in the past, but now wants to focus more on fishing, Nascar, and travel. After a busy life serving his country and Penn State, Al certainly deserves some time for a little R&R. However, you can bet that he'll be repairing everything in sight!
This week, I'd like to remind everyone to sign up for the "Ouch, Your Silence Hurts" diversity training. Sessions will be available from July 30 through October 3. It's crucial that we all learn about the effects our actions (and, sometimes more importantly) our inactions can have on our work environments.
Another employee was bitten in the leg by an insect. This is an almost unavoidable hazard in our warmer months, but at least there are only about six more weeks until Labor Day.
