As the power went off at Adelphi on Oct. 3 students gathered in groups as the fire engines came ringing in. Some said they were angry that the blackout interrupted them while saving the papers they were writing or downloading music. This was the second such power outage at Adelphi during the past calender year.

Zainab Atairu, a sophomore from Nigeria who lives in Linen Hall said, "The blackout actually shocked me. Being an international student I thought blackouts only occurred in African countries like mine."

Others were delighted by the change in scenery and explored the new conditions decked out in their Halloween costumes. Although some students just left campus without asking what had caused the power to go out, many wanted to know why another outage occurred, only a few month after the one last April.

"This was a freak failure," said James Kosloski, Executive Director of Facilities Management here on Garden City campus, "We are making plans to do a capital upgrade on the electricity system, and we hope to replace it with all high voltage feeders."

The lights went out at the University Center, Business Building, Woodruff Hall, Olmsted Theater, Post, Harvey and Alumni Hall, along with all the residence. Students and faculty were evacuated from all these buildings to investigate the reason behind this energy issue. Before midnight that night, external generators powered all halls and buildings. Thanks to the assistance of the electricity company Elmco and the generators provided on site, Adelphi campus was powered temporarily.

Adelphi residents were put to the test when determining what to pack before they came to school this semester. As required by most halls, that flashlight and set of batteries actually came in handy.

"When this kind of thing happens, it's good to have a fresh flashlight and batteries available," said Dean of Student Affairs, Jeffery Kessler.

Some residents were asked to leave, particularly Earle residents because the fourth floor was still without power even after the generators were on.

"If you live near by, we suggest you go home," Earle Resident Hall director Guy Seneque told the students Friday night by voice mail. "If you don't, we ask that you stay with a friend or another resident at a different hall until we have power." Earle wouldn't accept outside visitors; however all halls were accepting Earle residents.

"It's not easy. First order of business was residence halls powered. It only took one generator to power Linen and Chapman," Kessler said.

Earle Hall; however, wasn't as lucky.

It wasn't until Saturday afternoon when Earle Hall received complete power. But what will happen in the future to provent these problems remains the bigger concern..

And for those that are concerned that construction of the new residence hall may complicate matters, Kosloski said:

"There is already plenty of spare power on campus. The new feeders being installed in the new resident hall won't affect the rest of the campus. Geothermal systems are located in wells sunk in the ground."

Staff Writer Nwasokam Obianyo-Agu contributed to this story.