Foul smell in Northeast Academic Hall forces some Los Angeles Harbor College instructors to temporarily cancel class for the day
Classes return to normal after skunk attack
Robert Fausett
Posted in: News on 10/7/09 at 10:27 PM PST
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Although not as bad, the smell lingered Wednesday and some students refused to enter the NAH in the early morning hours, or could be seen covering their faces. But by early afternoon most things had returned to normal.
"The problem really affected the second floor of the Northeast Academic Hall," said Vice President of Administrative Services Ann Tomlinson.
On Wednesday most second floor classes were canceled. It is not known if classes resumed later in the day or in other locations.
"It sucks that many math classes were canceled because math is very important and you need it in order to transfer," said one student who asked not to be identified. "At least I didn't have to take my math test today."
Apparently, the skunk entered the building under a stairwell on the West end of the building sometime in the mid-morning. By the time steps were taken to chase it out, the animal sprayed parts of the building.
"My 8 a.m. class and I didn't even smell the skunk. I guess we weren't bothered by it," said Political Science instructor Jim Stanbery. "I guess it must have happened after class."
But others weren't so lucky.
"I thought the smell was from a stink bomb at first," said Charles Johnson, undecided.
Confusion reigned in some areas.
"I moved what was left of my English 28 class to an empty room," said Communications Division Chairman and instructor Carmen Carrillo.
Students could be seen gathered in front of the NAH early this morning around 9:20 a.m. because the campus sheriffs, ordered by Tomlinson, stopped everyone from entering the building until the skunk was removed.
One report said the skunk was captured about five minutes later and released. But another said it was killed.
Students were allowed to enter the building, but it was a matter of several minutes before instructors started to cancel class.
"I think the whole situation could have been handled a lot better," said Carrillo.
The smell caused quite a few students to cover their nose and mouth while walking in the NAH. Some got teary-eyed and experienced a little burn in their eyes. One student felt like throwing up because of the smell, she said.
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