UMNews
School of Medicine to combine garage and energy plant
The University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine will soon break ground on an unusual structure: a building that will house a parking garage and central energy plant.
Located in the Civic Center area near downtown Miami, the medical school sits on a 56-acre campus. The Miami Partnership, a joint initiative between UM and the City of Miami, made recommendations for revitalizing the area a few years ago. A lack of parking was one of the problems the partnership identified.
Moss & Associates, a Ft. Lauderdale-based construction firm, won a $47 million contract to build the 10-story facility. Moss is also building the medical school’s Biomedical Research Building, a nine-story, 188,000-square-foot edifice that will include both laboratory and office space.
The garage will provide the School of Medicine with 1,430 new parking spaces. The new central energy plant will include cooling towers about 50 feet high as well as three 3,500-ton chillers, which must be built in place.
Construction on both buildings is projected for spring 2008.
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Report confirms global warming fears
Randi Bernfeld // Independent Florida Alligator (U. Florida)
(U-WIRE) GAINESVILLE, Fla. – According to a report on climate change released Friday, global warming is true, and human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels, is very likely the driving force.
The 21-page report, written by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is the first volume of the “Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007.”
The panel consists of roughly 1,250 expert researchers who study peer-reviewed and scientific documents to distill the information relevant to understand the causes of global warming, as well as the effects the heat-up is having on that planet and the options for mitigation and adaptation.
The report stated that by the year 2100, temperatures likely will rise 3.5 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit, causing critical water shortages, extreme weather patterns and glacier shrinkage.
To add to the credibility of this report, last year was the warmest in the contiguous United States in more than a century, and 11 of the last 12 years rank among the 12 warmest years on record.
The report also stated that by 2075, sea levels could rise from 2 to 7 feet, causing coastal flooding to sweep about 7 million homes.
Later this year, the panel of climate change will release the full science volume, which will include more detailed information. It will also release a report about how people can adapt to the heat-up and another report on ways to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
ETC.
The Undergraduate Honor Council is now accepting applications for new members. All undergrads are eligible to apply. Applications can be found in the Dean of Students office, bldg. 21-H, or online at www.miami.edu/honor-council. The deadline to submit an application is March 6.