By Michael McFall, Staff Writer

If students were to return to an earthquake-shaken campus, they’d be coming back to an equally shaken class schedule and a school that wouldn’t be the same for more than a year, administrators said.

If an earthquake were to occur on campus, no one would be allowed back into any still-standing buildings that are deemed structurally unsound for several weeks after the earthquake as survey and reconstruction crews repair the damage. However, administrators said academics must go on no matter what Mother Nature might throw at the U.

“We want to get people graduated, and they can come back to pick up general (education) or electives,” said Les Chatelain, U special assistant for emergency management.

It would take about a year and a half to clean up the structural debris, sweep away collapsed buildings and demolish those that are cheaper to rebuild than to repair. Every building would require some level of repairs after a magnitude 7 earthquake.

The exact cost of repairing a crippled campus is hard to pin down, but it could easily be millions of dollars, administrators said.

Core and graduate classes in need of relocation would be rescheduled into the buildings least likely to be affected by a magnitude 7 earthquake, such as the Tanner Humanities and Warnock Engineering buildings. However, general education and electives would be cancelled if space or time couldn’t accommodate them. Students enrolled in cancelled classes would receive partial credit and a partial tuition refund proportional to how far along they are in the semester, Chatelain said.

“It’s fair, as inconvenient as it would be,” said Mike Bailie, a senior in mechanical engineering.

Stephen Skokos, a sophomore in business taking several electives this semester, smiled at the idea of getting out of class with due credit and refunds.

The successfully relocated classes would become afternoon or early evening classes so unaffected classes could continue, Chatelain said. Night classes would be a near impossibility for a few weeks.

A magnitude 7 earthquake would destroy all of Salt Lake County’s gas and power lines that run underground. The U would be without water and power for 30 to 60 days, said Marty Shaub, director of environmental health and safety department. The Federal Emergency Management Agency would have to bring in water and generators until the U could get back on its feet.

If the relocated core or graduate classes fill the buildings and still need more space, trailers would be rolled into the U’s safe, grassy areas.

Another option would be to relocate the overflow to the U’s off-campus sites in Murray, Bountiful and Sandy, Chatelain said. The U could also rent available space in downtown Salt Lake City, similar to what the College of Pharmacy is doing now.

Chatelain said the whole academic calendar would be screwed up. “We don’t want to have to extend the semester another four weeks as they fix the buildings,” he said.

Academic schedules would be back to normal within a month, Shaub said.

“After 30 days, people start to lose hope that things will ever get back to normal,” she said.

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Richard Payson

The Marriott Library was improved to be safer for students when the big earthquake hits the valley when it was remolded over the last few years.

Richard Payson

Buildings build before the 1980?s pose the greatest threat during an earthquake like OSH.

Richard Payson

Even newer buildings like the Warnock Engineering building will be damaged during the earthquake but they are designed not to collapse so it will save lives.