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Tunnels Have Easy Access, Frequent Use
The Collegiate Times, Jan 23, 1979 By Aimee Grego
"Bug Hunting" is how Student 1, a sophomore, describes the pasttime of going through Tech's labyrinth of steam tunnels. The Steam tunnels are supposed to provide hot water and heat to the buildings on campus, but for some people the maze of tunnels have provided easy entrance to some of Tech's buildings, sources have told the Collegiate Times. Student 3, also a sophomore, was a member of a group of students, who took regular excursions into the tunnels. "It's (tunneling) a big thing around here," student 3 said. "One time we popped up in the middle of the road." Student 3 said the group sometimes too two RA's with them, one a girl. Mike Jones, sergeant of investigators for Tech security, said that it is possible to get into the tunnels through almost any manhole cover. "There are supposed to be gates with locks in the tunnels," Jones said. He said security would like to lock the manhole covers but, "OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration) won't let us." Student 3 said the group would "rig tubing" that would drip acid on the locks over night. "It'd eat right through the locks." I. E. Nickols, Tech's security director, said students are usually not charged for being in the steam tunnels. "You're in a different environment on a campus that in a town - we don't charge students for some things that an ordinary person would be charged for," Nickols said. Jones said when a student is found in a tunnel, they are told not to be there again and their student number and name is taken. "Students are nosey," Jones said. "They want to look." Student 1 said that he'd "even seen parties in the steam tunnels."
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