“I can’t watch the Cowboys!” “I’m missing Double Jeopardy!” and “I have a paper to write!” echoed though out the hallways.

For students living in parts of the Griesedieck complex, power outages have become a common phenomenon.

Earlier this week there was a string of power outages that would come and go for hours. Floors hit hardest by these temporary blackouts were in the older Clemens building, on floors two, four and five.

This shortage of power caused many students to stop working for a short while. However, others kept working through the darkness.

“We were doing our chemistry lab with flashlights,” said Jenelle Spalding, a freshman.

For other students, it just created a general sense of frustration.

“I lost about three-quarters of a page, plus all the corrections I had made,” said Greg Bowne, another freshman.

Why such power outages? The answer is in the history of the building. It was initially intended just for sleeping.

However, within the last 10 years students have been bringing computers, refrigerators, microwaves and several other appliances.

Plus, the number of air conditioners has tripled this year in the complex, and the heat has refrigerators running more often. The amount of electricity these appliances consume is too much for the fuses and electrical system of the aged building.

Within the last few days, Mike G’Sell, director of the Building and Services, made efforts to ratify the situation.

“I will bring it up with senior management, and hope to get more people on it,” said G’Sell.

G’Sell hopes to have something done with the building by spring, when it begins to heat up again, and appliances will be running more often.

“We can possibly do something over Christmas break.,” said G’Sell.

For now, though, G’Sell has to work with Kathleen Brady and Kathy Humphrey in order to coordinate something.

RAs on each floor have checked rooms in order to make sure that there are not too many appliances plugged into one outlet at a time. For example, microwaves and refrigerators cannot be plugged into the same socket anymore. Plus, students have been urged to use power strips whenever they can.

Argyle Wade, Associate Director of Residence Life, said that the department is asking students to “scale back a little for the benefit of each other. We’re asking people to be considerate of each other.”

No price has been named yet for the cost of renovating the buildings’ wiring.