Berm project to commence Dec. 14

Webber Plaza

Just when you thought the berm project construction was over – it’s back. The berm, which is the earthen barrier built to improve drainage around the Medical School Building during floods, was completed in November 2005. Improved storm water drainage and the beautified Webber Plaza  were the chief results of this project.

But, if you have walked in Webber Plaza during a hard rain storm, you may notice that it  has water ponding issues in a couple of locations, and during a really severe downpour, minor flooding occurs within the plaza.

Over the last several weeks it has come to light that an engineering error – specifying and then subsequently installing the wrong sized drainage force main pipe – is the problem.
“We’re going to have to fix an engineering snafu because the protection we have will not fully protect us in a major storm water producing event,” said Tony Lentola, senior project manager, facilities operations.

The new berm construction project will commence immediately following the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Replacement Research Facility Dec. 14 and will be completed by June 1, in time for next year’s hurricane season.

“The plaza will be dug up and the piping replaced at the engineer’s expense – Walter P. Moore stepped up to the plate and are paying for the problems attributed to them,” Lentola added.

While the plaza is under construction, the Medical School facilities team is electing to add features to the berm’s multi pumping system to improve its efficiency and to ensure that the plaza will not flood in the future.

-D. Brown

For more Headlines, see Page 2 Stories

Knobil papers on display

Ernst Knobil

Seventy-one cubic feet of notebooks, records, correspondences, and speeches from former Dean Ernst Knobil are now organized and available at the John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center at the Houston Academy of Medicine – Texas Medical Center Library.

Knobil served as dean of the Medical School from 1981-84 and was the director of the Laboratory for Neuroendocrinology at the Medical School until 1997. He died in 2000 and is survived by his wife of 40 years, Dr. Julie Hotchkiss Knobil.

The collection, which spans from 1942-2000, is a gift to the library from the Knobils.

For more information, see http://mcgovern.library.tmc.edu/data/www/html/collect/manuscript/
Knobil/MS096.html#series9

For more Headlines, see Page 2 Stories

New guard desk technology part of security upgrade

New camera technology is at the fingertips of Officer L.E. Simmons at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston guard desk.

The newest technology in guard’s desks has debuted at the Medical School, featuring four LCD monitors that display the views of the 80 cameras in and around the Medical School.

One monitor can show up to 32 camera views and can be customized to location – for instance just outside views or just Learning Resource Center cameras. Alarms and sensory devices that are connected to doors and monitors will soon be integrated with the camera views, and Medical School guards will be able to immediately view what is triggering the alarm by then viewing the monitor.

“I am very happy with this camera technology because I can see from door to door and hallways in between,” said L. E. Simmons, Medical School security guard.

Alarms, visual and audio, are triggered simultaneously at the UT Police Department dispatch at Knight Road for response. The cameras also are recorded digitally at the UTPD Police Communication Center on Knight Road.

The enhanced guard desk, which is located in the Medical School’s Leather Lounge, is part of a $100,000 security upgrade for the Medical School.

-D. Brown

For more Headlines, see Page 2 Stories