Volume 36, Issue 1, January 2001

NEWSNOW

                            latest news developments

ANSI Passes November Ballot: Includes New Test Standards

A new American National Standards Institute Inc. (ANSI) Z97.1 Safety Requirements for Architectural Glazing Standard is a step closer to completion. Draft number six passed a November vote of the ANSI Z97.1 committee with 22 affirmative votes with comments and ten negatives. The ten negative votes were addressed during the committee’s meeting on December 6-7, 2000 in Tampa, Fla. The objections will be disseminated to the committee. Negatives that are deemed persuasive will result in modifications of the draft.

Of the ten negative votes, several cited concerns over issues dealing with wired glass and safety glass. Prior to the ballot, questions had been raised about the characteristics of how safe wired glass is.
As proposed, the draft makes sweeping changes to the standard. It includes provisions for one-year outdoor exposure test in South Florida; tests for plastic only; tests for laminated glass only; aging tests for plastics and organic-coated glass used in indoor applications only; markings for safety glazing materials (including the information the label should contain and where it should be applied), as well as specific information for safety glazing material used in indoor applications only.

FAA Gets Plans Underway to Dismantle and Rebuild Miami Airport Control Tower
The Federal Aviation Administra-tion (FAA) has begun dismantling the top two floors of Miami International Airport’s new control tower due to complaints from controller’s that four, thick columns between panels of glass obstruct their view, endangering the lives of airline passengers, pilots and attendants.

According to a story from the Miami Herald, the agreement reached in October by Miami’s air traffic controllers and the FAA, the thick, concrete columns of the new tower will be replaced with narrow mullions, and increasing the amount of glass used in the panels.
FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the reconstruction would cost taxpayers $4 million to $5million. Up to this point, tower construction has already totaled $18 million.

“The FAA has made the right decision for the flying public, but the whole work could have been done by now,” said Andrew Cantwell, head of the Miami chapter of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. “Hopefully they won’t repeat the same mistake in the future.”
Owen International of Miami will install laminated, annealed 1 ½-inch thick glass in the new tower.

Iron Workers General Secretary Charged with Stealing Thousands of Union Dollars for Personal Expenses
James E. Cole, the Iron Workers union general secretary, has been charged with stealing more than $10,000 dollars from the union’s money to pay for personal expenses such as a vacation to Scotland, a trip to his high school reunion and anniversary flowers for his wife. Cole was recently secretly indicted on 18 counts by federal grand jury. According to the Washington Post, “Cole got his first opportunity to read the document during a hearing in U.S. District Court. He said nothing during the proceedings and was released afterwards on personal recognizance.”

The indictment alleges that beginning in 1992 Cole and others used union money to pay for personal services. It also accuses Cole of mail fraud, embezzlement, making false statements and concealment, the Post reported.
Cole is the fourth union official to face such charges in a long-running FBI investigation involving union officials and the D.C. police force.

USG