it ' *!'•; ?;{' . < '.) • < ;• I U ‘, ; v ; .tfti'tlW-Vij(‘ i, i!?;7i ,'i';> Are complexes fire-safe? THE BATTALION Page 7 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1978 Tenants question security Apartment fires in a few area com- lexes have prompted some resi- ents to question the security of heir apartments. Although city wilding codes do provide prevent- ve construction, complexes built in ryan, College Station and rural reas have different requirements ir fire protection. College Station apartments and uplexes must be separated by a me-hour tenant separation wall as lefined in the 1973 building code. Designed to keep the fire from preadingquickly, the wall is usually constructed one of two ways: two sheets of five-eighths inch fire-coded sheetrock or two sheets of one-half inch sheetrock with mineral wool in sulation between them. The wall ex tends to the ceiling level. The purpose of the wall is not really for protection of the apart ment, but rather to provide adequate time to evacuate residents, says College Station Fire Marshal Harry Davis. Other fire protection alternatives include a four-hour fire wall or a two-hour party wall, he said. Neither 1 piw° Mfli] pol rovalnafai 'agreement ith his ewi g to (he; -■ent of tk ley disappie expending)! "oved. strongly i methodi i. tion proM ent disappi; Tonight’s broadcast: courtesy of the wind United Press International PLYMOUTH, N. H. — The bone-chilling winds of winter, cursed by most New Englanders, have been harnessed by the students at Plymouth State College to run their campus radio station. "We are on wind power. This hour is 100 percent wind propelled” goes a station jingle. “On a good windy day we can run the transmitter the entire day on wind, station Manager Paul Shulins said Tuesday. The station’s windmill will charge a bank of storage batteries enough on the average day to run the 10-watt station for three to four hours. A 10-mile-per-hour breeze is needed to generate electricity with maximum output of 200 watts coming at 24 mph. Shulins said the windmill was purchased to light a sign on campus and thereby demonstrate the feasibility of wind energy. But interest in the project dwindled until Shulins and friends installed it at the radio station. The first two nights it ran the station for six hours and the project was labeled a success. It was originally intended for people to learn about wind power and that’s what its doing,” Shulins remarked. Wiolef reaction to make power? irveyed lergy polio wo perctnl his hand! ituation. Si 4 camp;. I 66 perra;: and the (l>j n the quests lealing \ntr -eight pent •proved an; ip Poll, of how Caiti ental probi ODinion atII I United Press International n 3(37^ I SAN ANTONIO — A researcher )up sbowoll University of Texas-San An tonio predicts the discovery of the arple membrane, the only known ample of photosyntesis occurring ^thout chlorophyll, can provide the lechanism for a new type of solar ;ttery. Dr. Robert D. Renthal, assistant c sTude Pofessor of biochemistry has been warded $178,(X)() in grants from the . i Jublic Health Service and Robert youre gonna like us.’ yy NOON BUFFET 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. Mon. - Fri. All the pizza & salad you can eat. 1803 GREENFIELD PLAZA (Next to Bryan High) 4.3 TEXAS AVE. S. of these is required in the building code. The fire wall is made of masonry material and extends from ground level to three feet above the roof. Of the three types of walls, this offers the best protection, Davis said. The party wall is also constructed of sheetrock and extends from the floor to the roof line, while the tenant sep aration wall extends only to the ceil ing. Davis said he thinks the tenant separation walls “work pretty well if installed the way they re supposed to be.” He added that he feels most of them are installed properly since they must pass inspection by both the building inspector and file in spector before the owner is allowed to connect the electricity. In 1975, a requirement calling for the installation of smoke detectors in each dwelling unit was adopted. All apartments and duplexes built after May 26, 1975, must be equipped with an audible smoke detecting unit. The requirement does not specify whether the apartment owner or dweller is to supply the detector nor does it set out specifi cations for them, but there must he a working unit in the dwelling for it to pass final inspection. Bryan follows the 1971 version of the same building code. It also stipu lates a one-hour tenant separation wall between units. There is, how ever, no requirement for a smoke detector. “One of these days when they get those things perfected, we may re quire them, ” said Bruce Chandler of the Bryan building inspection de partment. “I don’t feel like we shoidd make the builder put in something that will be disconnected and left hanging there. He added that units built before the 1971 building code was adopted do not have any requirements for fire protection. Brazos County has no fire protec tion requirements for complexes built in rural areas, Davis said. “As far as I know, they (builders) have no requirements except what their insurance companies may re quire, he said. “One of the advan tages to building in the county is to do away with the stipulations, al though they do have to meet certain rural electricity codes. There are no legislative bodies, counties included, that are au thorized by Texas state law to enact fire protection requirements, said Brazos County Judge W.R. Vance. Builders must only meet the nearest city’s electrical code. MSC ALL NITE FAIR RELIVES THE TWENTIES | ALL RECOGNIZED STUDENT ORGANIZATION ^ ARE INVITED TO HAVE BOOTHS IN THE FAIR, $ FEB. 23. ENTRY DEADLINE — DEC. 8. for more INFO. CALL 845-1515. Rapid Reduce “ NOW Muscles " w w Future Bar ture in their ability to hamass solar energy from chlorophyll. Although about one-third as efficient as chlorophyll, the purple membrane is more stable and more easily ex tracted from the bacteria. “Based on the findings, scientists eventually may be able to design a plastic sheet, modeled on the mem brane, that can store solar energy and function as a solar battery, Re nthal said of his studies. He said sunlight activates a pump-like mechanism in the purple membrane that carries protons, the simplest type of ion, across the cell membrane. “The ejected protons produce an electrochemical gradient that the cell uses as a miniature battery,” he said. “The research also may con tribute to basic medical knowledge. The functions of the kidneys, the in testines and the nervous system in volve ion pumps.” The bacteria normally use oxygen to extract energy from food, but when they become crowded and use all the oxygen in their surroundings, they make purple membrances that allow them to continue to live off solar energy, he said. Scientists said because the purple membrane helps the bacteria to push salt through their membranes to the outside, the research also could be useful in desalination projects to help man extract fresh water from the sea. Bryan-College Station’s Big City Disco WATCH FOR OUR SURE HAPPY IT S TUESDAY! 846-1100 NEXT TUESDAY 846-6164 PLANT SALE Saturday, Dec. 9 10-2pm FLORICULTURE GREENHOUSE BY THE FLORICULTURE CLUB