Cal State L.A. Fights Scars, Plans to Reopen Thursday

With its library pillars reinforced, one structurally weakened building locked up and smoke-damaged laboratories awaiting a scrubbing, earthquake-stricken California State University, Los Angeles is getting ready to reopen Thursday.

Hundreds of construction and cleanup personnel as well as inspectors labored on the 22,000-student campus Tuesday as President James Rosser and other school officials attended services for Lupe Elias-Exposito, the 23-year-old microbiology student who died during the quake when she was struck by a concrete slab that fell from a parking structure.

Rosser plans to hold a news conference today with W. Ann Reynolds, chancellor of the California State University system, detailing millions of dollars of damage to the campus and appealing for direct state aid to make permanent repairs.

Rosser said Tuesday that the campus essentially will have to “rely on the good will of the governor” to restore its facilities. He noted that on a visit to Whittier last week, Gov. George Deukmejian had promised state aid to earthquake victims.

In the meantime, since the earthquake struck last Thursday, the university has been improvising as best it can, using engineers to determine which cracks are dangerous, and otherwise cleaning up and patching up.

New Fixtures in Gymnasium

In the gymnasium, where 14 lighting fixtures crashed to the hardwood floor during the quake just 15 minutes before students were to have begun practicing there, new fixtures have been put in place. Some of the damaged ones were still visible Tuesday, and a university spokeswoman said it is not known when the gym will be reopened.

In the physical sciences building, Stan Pine, professor of chemistry and the school’s hazardous materials officer, put damage to chemical equipment at $1.1 million. He said this was more than double the initial estimate he had given Rosser.

Pine showed two visitors a room on the top floor of the building where a small chemical explosion caused by the earthquake had triggered a brief emergency. The fire was confined to the room and quickly extinguished but not before smoke damage had affected much of the rest of the floor.

Tuesday, a terrible odor lingered and Pine said the floor will remain off limits when students return. Two professors, their noses covered by surgical masks, were cleaning their belongings out of their offices prior to a general washing of the walls and replacement of ceiling tiles.

“We are resigned to what happened and generally resilient,” said chemistry professor Harold Goldwhite.

The damage could have been worse. There was relatively little chemical spillage in the building because restraining wires had been put on all shelves as a precaution well before last Thursday’s quake.

University spokeswoman Ruth Goldway said one problem with the repair effort is that of finding skilled workmen and engineers to work on short notice. Many were tied up with quake damage elsewhere, she said, but finally arrived over the weekend.

More than 25 structural engineers then went through each building. Goldway said that besides damage to the business education building, Salazar Hall, the administration building and a bridge between the two library wings, little structural damage was found.

Still lying where it fell Thursday was the concrete slab that killed Miss Elias-Exposito. Yellow restraining tape surrounded it, and Goldway said other slabs are being inspected for possible loose connections. In the meantime, part of the parking structure will remain closed.

School officials have announced plans to establish a scholarship in memory of the dead student and are soliciting student and public contributions.

To compensate for the week of classes lost, the campus will extend its fall semester from Dec. 14 to Dec. 21.