Will whoever is responsible for the health center fiasco please take one step forward?

The University Health Service was closed in the summer of 1990 for asbestos removal. The health center was temporarily moved to the Holmes Student Center and slated to make a triumphant return in Fall 1991. Well, the deadline passed with barely a word.

And now it seems that no one will take the blame for why the center is not back in its original home.

NIU is pointing the finger at the state’s Capital Development Board. The CDB is citing the contractors as the problem. The contractor is condemning NIU for the incomplete health center. Will the vicious finger-pointing circle ever end? The entire scenario resembles an absurd farce.

For example, no one can agree to exactly when the health center will be finished. NIU administrators said it will be finished during Christmas break in 1992-1993. The state said it will be done in spring 1993. The contractor has no idea.

Even NIU officials cannot get their story straight. James Harder, vice president of Business and Operations, claims one date while NIU Project Manager Conrad Miller alleges another.

Someone better take action. If the bids for renovating the health center aren’t taken soon, completion will be delayed even further.

So, while the principals play “Whodunnit,” the health center continues to be housed in cramped quarters while service is still suffering.