Underground Electrical Problems Impact BSUBy April C. ThorntonA faulty underground electrical cable left several buildings at Bowie State University in the dark for several days, prompting university officials to close the Martin Luther King Jr. Communications Arts Center, the Center for Business for Graduate Studies and the Henry Administration building. The power outage, which began Nov. 28, also compelled officials to cancel classes in affected buildings and to temporarily close or relocate the offices of the Registrar, Student Accounts, Admissions and Financial Aid to other areas on campus from the morning of Nov. 30 through late afternoon Dec. 2. Talk about a campus of chaos. Some faculty members and the student body argued that this unexpected situation inconvenienced their schedules, while others argued "that a break was needed." Since the Business and MLK buildings were locked, professors had to ask security to unlock the doors to have access to their offices. Talk about inconvenience. Professors were able to catch up with grading assignments and others had to create lessons to ensure their classes do not fall behind. History Department Prof. Tamara Brown said "For class purposes it wasn't really a problem necessarily because I had online lectures prepared. For me personally, I did have over 100 history essays to grade and so I was able to concentrate on those for a bit." A small amount of students anxiously waited for classes to resume, while majority of students took advantage of this rare opportunity to relax and study for their upcoming finals. When asked how she felt about the electrical problem causing certain buildings to close, freshman Mercedes Waid said it seemed like "Bowie State always have something going on, either the Internet is down or the heat is on or off." Senior video editor for BSU-TV Keith Burns was one of many who were unable to go to work due to the electrical issue. Burns said it was unfortunate that the MLK building had to be shut down in this point of time. Classes resumed at 4:55 p.m. on Dec. 2. There were signs on the front doors of the Henry Administration building redirecting students to the basement of the library. When asked whether she was inconvenienced by the power outage University Registrar Patricia Mitchell said, "We had no heat or power. There was no way we could serve the students." Senior Quentin Wright said, "The closing of the buildings just made me feel more pressure because I have finals to study for and the buildings being out prevented me from registering for my classes in the spring considering I am graduating this May." | 
I chose Bowie State University because not only was it close to home, but it also has a growing and terrific communications department. 
d coordinator for the public relations concentration. With more than 20 years professional experience, she most recently served as associate director for public relations in the University Relations and Marketing Department at Bowie State University.
After earning a bachelor's degree in business administration in marketing from James Madison University, Angela spent more than a decade working in small and large organizations and honing her leadership and organizational skills.
