Tips to keep MCC cool over the HOT holiday weekend.

As staff, faculty and students across the district prepare for the 4th of July weekend it is important to remember a couple of energy saving tips from MCC-Longview Facilities Services Superintendent

Steve Greife.

1. As you leave Thursday or Friday for the extended holiday, turn off all the lights at your workstation.

2. Turn off all printers, copiers, and unused appliances.

2. Don't forget to turn off your computer.

"As we go into a very hot three day holiday weekend please help MCC use as little energy as possible.  Please do that every day – but it is especially important over a hot three day weekend."


Have a Happy 4th of July weekend!


[Image from inhabitat]

Classroom doors to get new locks

Classrooms across MCC will soon become a little more secure, thanks to a measure just approved by the board of trustees that calls for installation of more than 500 new door locks.

The locks, which will be installed beginning in May, are intended to protect students, faculty and staff in the event of a public safety emergency involving an intruder or other threat to personal safety. Once installed, the doors will be lockable from both inside and outside of the room. Currently, most classroom and conference room doors can only be locked and unlocked from outside of the room and require the use of a key.

“We want to give students, employees and guests peace of mind,” said Bill Hudson, chief of campus police. “If there is a safety threat in the building or anywhere on campus, people will be able to close and lock the door to protect themselves from danger.”

MCC’s construction and maintenance crews will be manually installing the new knobs and handles on a schedule that will not interfere will classes or other college business. Installation will begin in May and is expected to be complete by the middle of the fall 2011 semester, according to MCC’s construction superintendent Richard Hill.

MCC-MW prepares to battle winter elements

All over the district, mower decks are coming off tractors and snow blades and cabs are going on – the Facility Services team is preparing to battle the elements for another winter.

Everyone in Facility Services helps in the effort – custodians, groundsmen, mechanics and supervisors all pitch in – often starting work at 3 a.m. or earlier during winter weather.
At MCC-Maple Woods, for example, the equipment being prepared includes two pickup trucks with blades, a Bobcat skid steer loader, five tractors of varying sizes with blades and brooms, and several types of spreaders. A unique feature of the Maple Woods operation is storage sheds that permit ice control sand and salt to be purchased in bulk and loaded into spreading equipment with front end loaders – saving time and money over the use of bagged products.

“During the winter of 2009-2010 we moved snow or treated for ice around 20 times,” said Jeff Allen, Superintendent of Facility Services at Maple Woods. “We have to take care of parts of the campuses even on weekends and the week between Christmas and New Years because tenant-occupied buildings and fitness centers are open. We hope that this winter, it is not required quite that often – the fun kind of wears off after the first few times. We pride ourselves on the campus drives and walkways being in better shape than surrounding public streets and business parking lots after a winter storm.”

“One thing folks may notice this winter season is that some sections of sidewalk may be treated with ice melters as we have done in the past, while other sections may be treated with sand only after some storms,” Allen said. “This is because quite a few sections of deteriorating sidewalk were replaced this summer, and it is recommended that the use of chemicals be kept to a minimum on concrete that is less than a full year old. As part of our district sustainability and green efforts we also will be testing some products this season that are designed to be gentler on both our concrete and the environment.”