The man everyone else is pointing to for answers about the second Food Service electrical shock victim in less than two years isn’t returning calls.

The Northern Star has attempted to contact Physical Plant Director John Harrod numerous times for the past week.

Some of Harrod’s employees indicated they received orders from him to halt a maintenance program that could have prevented Kim Swenson from getting shocked while working with an electric cooker.

Harrod’s superiors claim they had no knowledge of the program’s termination which apparently ended during the summer.

Bill Herrmann, Bond Revenue Operations director, sent a memo directly to Harrod expressly endorsing continued maintenance.

Pat Hewitt, associate vice president for Business and Operations, as well as Harrod’s boss, said she and Vice President James Harder approved the memo to emphasize the importance of the program.

“We confirm things in writing to insure ideas are part of the organization’s memory,” Hewitt said.

When asked if Harrod issued a reply, Herrmann said “not to the best of my knowledge.”

Food Service employee Mary Lou Raih also was shocked on May 3, 1989, and is still receiving treatment for injuries.

aih said she was plugging in a “hot bowl unit” when she was “thrown through the air” and “left unable to move or speak for about 20 minutes.

“What really makes me mad is that no one called an ambulance,” Raih said.

University Food Service Director Robert Fredrickson confirmed that an ambulance was not called but would not comment on what significance it would have on Raih’s injuries.

aih contends that after the initial jolt, she was moved into another room where she remained for an additional hour before being allowed to drive home. Her husband drove her to the hospital where she received treatment.

“I’m still receiving treatments for pain in my arm and for PVCs,” Raih said.

PVCs—premature ventricular contractions—occur when a heartbeat comes early and is conducted differently through the heart.

Any measures taken to prevent reoccurrence were not enough to protect Swenson from her Jan. 14 accident. Swenson was taken to the hospital and later released.