Maroon

              loyola MAROON LOYOLA UNIVERSITY NEW ORLEANS FEBRUARY 11, 1977 VOL. LI 11 1M0.15 How fire-safe is the Loyola campus? By Patricia Watt About 1:30 last Saturday morning, a fire broke out at Pierce Butler Hall, a women's dormitory at Tulane University. Evacuation of the building was prompt, in spite of the fact that some of the main fire exits were blocked by the blaze. Only a few minor injuries were reported. If this had happened at Loyola, how well would we be prepared for this kind of emergency? Luckily for the residents of Butler, fire drills are a regular part of dorm life at Tulane,. The residence halls here have not had any fire drills in the last eight months. At least not since Edgar J. Maxwell, Jr., director of housing, has been here. He plans to initiate them in the very near future. Fire drills have failed in the past because of the number of false alarms that are turned in every semester, Maxwell said. "Students could become so complacent hearing all these false alarms that they could just turn over and go back to sleep during a real fire," Maxwell said. For the most part, students have stopped paying attention to the fire alarms altogether, according to Maxwell. Students have filled several alarm boxes with glue in order to keep from constantly being disturbed by false alarms. The glue prevents the alarm from ringing. Maxwell plans to put an end to false alarms by completely evacuating students from a building every time an alarm goes off. "The building will be emptied every time the alarm is pulled," Maxwell said. He said by doing this, students who are inconvenienced by the false alarms will put pressure on these "immature people." "People who are turning in false alarms aren't just putting their own lives in danger, but the lives of everybody on the floor." Resident assistants in the dorms attend a workshop every August, just before the dorms open in he fall. Last year, the New Orleans fire marshall gave a demonstration on the proper use of the fire extinguishers. The RA's also' learned about fire regulations and safety procedures. They are responsible for clearing the halls in case of fire. The RA's are also required to teach dorm residents what to do in case of such an emergency. This is supposed to be covered in the first section meeting of every semester. However, Aleada Lee, a junior living in Buddig, says she has not heard anything about fire procedures since she was a first semester freshman. Ann Leßlanc, also a resident of Buddig, says the resident assistant on her floor did cover the fire safety rules in their first section meeting last semester. Brian Falato, a Biever resident, when questioned about what was done in his section meeting, replied,"All we did was discuss all the activities we had planned, and tell people not to throw firecrackers on the carpet because it was our property and we would student? pay for it. Of the 36 people on the floor only 12 showed up." According to Maxwell, the RA's have not demonstrated the proper use of the fire extinguishers in their meetings. Maxwell said they are not required to do so. According to fire department regulations, here should be a fire extinguisher for every 2,500 square feet. These should be checked once a year. The maintenance department has a regular schedule to check all extinguishers on campus within that period of time. A spot check revealed that maintenance seems to be keeping up to date on this job. However one extinguisher in Marquette, two in Bobet, one in Stallings, and another in the Military Science building have not been checked since July of 1975. The biggest problem with the extinguishers is that many people have no idea where to find them. The basement of Danna Center is especially bad. The most often heard reply to "where is your fire extinguisher?" is "gosh, it's got to be around here somewhere." Fire Prevention Inspector Edward Ritter of the New Orleans Fire Department says that wooden buildings are required to have adequate fire extinguishers and two exits. Class A building, constructed of brick or cement, must have enclosed stairwells, two clearly marked exits, and a conspicuous fire alarm system. Most of the buildings on campus are Class A. Sprinkler systems are not required by law in buildings of this type. According to Manuel Vega, Director of the Physical Plant, the fire department has expressed some concern that there are no sprinklers in any of the campus buildings Any building over 50 feet tall must have a system of stand pipes and hoses on each floor and in the stairwells between floors. A check of campus buildings showed that fire extinguishers were included with the fire hoses. All fire exits must be plainly marked and stairwells should be kept clear at all times. On the second floor of Buddig, three of the exit signs were found to be defective due to vandalism, a grocery shopping cart was parked in the stairwell, and a bicycle in the exit. The Fire Department tries to inspect all buildings once a year. Due to a shortage of manpower, it may go as long as 16 months between inspections. School officials are not warned beforehand that the fire department will be visiting the campus. Other hazards the fire department looks for are improper storage of laboratory chemicals, paint and other flammable material. Hlectrical wiring can also be potentially dangerous. The rooms in Biever have a built-in fire hazard . When the building was constructed, an electrical outlet was placed in the floor under the window of each room. When the floors are mopped, water seeps down into the outlet and rots the insulation on the wiring. Maintenance has been closing the outlets as, they short out. So far, nothing has been done about inspecting those still in operation, at least as far as Dave Maybury, resident director of Biever, knows. With the recent Tulane fire, it is wondered whether or not Loyob * prepared for fire. Dorm rates to increase $70 effective next semester Dorm students will be paying an extra $70 per year for double-occupancy rooms next year. The increase, recently approved bytthe University Board of Directors, pushes room rates for women's double-occupancy rooms to $796 from $726 and rates for men's double-occupancy rooms to $746 from $676. According to Ed Maxwell, director of housing, most of the increase is due to increased utility rates. "All utility rates have gone up," Maxwell said, "water, gas, everything. There are many contributing factors, but that is the m ain factor." Maxwell said students could keep down the cost of utilities in their rooms by "cutting off lights if you're not in the room." The $70 increase in room rates is about a 10 per cent increase over this year's rate. A check of housing at other universities in the New Orleans area showed that Loyola is still in line with Tulane and Dominican in housing costs. For example, housing at Tulane ranges in price from $750 to $825 per year. Dominican.'s rates are about $1,400 per year, but that includes room and board. I ngl (It Did a" of ,hese innocent students get gonged? Find out what really •*• happened at the Gong Show on page 8.