HELEN HEADLEE

ONLINE REPORTER

Lockett Hall is up to fire safety codes despite how crowded it is while classes are changing,  Michael Hooks, Assistant Director of Occupational and Environmental Safety, said.

In the basement of Lockett, students line up and down the hallways waiting for classes to begin. It gets crowded as students are dismissed from class.

“University and state fire marshals have looked at student flow and spacing of exits during class change time,” Hooks said. “It currently meets fire code requirements.”

Hooks also said the problem of students loitering in the hallways is worse in inclement weather.

“We’ve worked with student government and other organizations to get the word out,” Hooks said. “It’s a matter of getting students in and out efficiently.”

The same problems occur in the Cox Communications building.

The lecture hall in the middle of the basement, room B2, has a capacity of 383 students while room B16, one of the rooms surrounding it, can hold 200.

“The safety code says there must be seven square feet per occupant or count occupancy,” Facility Development Manager Sarah Hutchinson said.

While the building is in the clear with safety codes students have noticed the crowding.

“Students can’t be sitting in the hallways,” finance senior Richard Daniels said. “I normally stay outside to deal with it…it’s been getting worse every year.”

“If there was a fire it would be chaos,” Caroline Nawas, a mass communication sophomore, said. “It’s already crowded just getting to the bus or your next class.”

Architects designed Lockett to have as much space utilization as possible and the basement was a good place for bigger classrooms, Hooks said.

“Because we have such a large student body right now there’s a greater demand for classrooms,” Hooks said. “When we had 26 or 27,000 students the problem wasn’t that bad, but with 30,000 it’s tight.”