diff --git a/src/Utility/Utilities.C b/src/Utility/Utilities.C
index 8b00e6dd..3437a0b7 100644
--- a/src/Utility/Utilities.C
+++ b/src/Utility/Utilities.C
@@ -17,10 +17,6 @@
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <algorithm>
 
-#ifdef HAVE_MPI
-#include <mpi.h>
-#endif
-
 
 void utl::parseIntegers (std::vector<int>& values, const char* argv)
 {
@@ -155,6 +151,18 @@ bool utl::getAttribute (const TiXmlElement* xml, const char* att, int& val)
 }
 
 
+bool utl::getAttribute (const TiXmlElement* xml, const char* att, char& val,
+                        bool useIntValue)
+{
+  if (xml && xml->Attribute(att))
+    val = useIntValue ? atoi(xml->Attribute(att)) : xml->Attribute(att)[0];
+  else
+    return false;
+
+  return true;
+}
+
+
 bool utl::getAttribute (const TiXmlElement* xml, const char* att, size_t& val)
 {
   if (xml && xml->Attribute(att))
@@ -356,18 +364,6 @@ size_t utl::find_closest (const std::vector<Real>& a, Real v)
 }
 
 
-void utl::printSyncronized (std::ostream& out, const std::stringstream& str,
-                            int pid)
-{
-  out << std::flush;
-#ifdef HAVE_MPI
-  MPI_Barrier(MPI_COMM_WORLD);
-#endif
-  if (pid == 0)
-    out << str.str();
-}
-
-
 std::string utl::adjustRight (size_t width, const std::string& s,
                               const std::string& suffix)
 {
diff --git a/src/Utility/Utilities.h b/src/Utility/Utilities.h
index 9841ccc1..7dcde37a 100644
--- a/src/Utility/Utilities.h
+++ b/src/Utility/Utilities.h
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 #include "matrix.h"
 #include <string>
-#include <sstream>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <vector>
 #include <map>
@@ -70,6 +69,15 @@ namespace utl
   //! \return \e true if the attribute \a att is found in \a xml,
   //! otherwise \e false
   bool getAttribute(const TiXmlElement* xml, const char* att, int& val);
+  //! \brief Extracts a char attribute value from the specified XML-element.
+  //! \param[in] xml Pointer to XML-element to extract from
+  //! \param[in] att The attribute tag
+  //! \param[out] val The attribute value
+  //! \param[in] useIntValue If \e true, convert the value to an integer
+  //! \return \e true if the attribute \a att is found in \a xml,
+  //! otherwise \e false
+  bool getAttribute(const TiXmlElement* xml, const char* att, char& val,
+                    bool useIntValue = true);
   //! \brief Extracts a size_t attribute value from the specified XML-element.
   //! \param[in] xml Pointer to XML-element to extract from
   //! \param[in] att The attribute tag
@@ -179,16 +187,6 @@ namespace utl
   //! input. If this is not the case the method will deliver incorrect result.
   size_t find_closest(const std::vector<Real>& a, Real v);
 
-  //! \brief Prints a string stream to an output stream.
-  //! \param out The output stream to print to
-  //! \param[in] str The string stream to print
-  //! \param[in] pid The PID of this process (only process 0 will print)
-  //!
-  //! \details This method makes sure to flush the output stream
-  //! across all processes up front.
-  void printSyncronized(std::ostream& out,
-                        const std::stringstream& str, int pid);
-
   //! \brief Right-justifies the input string to the given total \a width.
   std::string adjustRight(size_t width, const std::string& s,
                           const std::string& suffix = " : ");