The Reporter

www, stetsonreporter. corn Thursday, November 14, 2009 UVA: Safe or ty» IS* Hatters or Bears? Which would be a better mascot? The Bear Changed Everything by David Quinn Hello. I am sure you have heard about the bear that ravaged our campus at the end of October. Because how could you not the bathroom without flushing The Hatter Name American Black Bear 126 Age 32 (average) .'•:• ' -6* Height ' .'-6-7'." 1851bs. Weight 400-6001bs. Hat Manufacturing, Climbing, Getting Mercury Abilities Swimming, Poisoning Mauling, Adorable Circus tricks Alice in Major Winnie the Pooh Wonderland Cultural Reference '■ Accredited Status ThreateneoJ have heard? Because it was everywhere, the bear was. He was in a tree outside the CUB, roaring and making obscene gestures at passers-by. He ran through the quad, shouting hateful anti-Semitic slurs. He was in the basement of the library, putting documents back in the wrong order. He was outside of Res Hall A, smoking a cigarette less than fifty feet away from a building. He was in the Commons, patting bagels and fruit into his bag and then not paying for them with his meal. He was on the third story of Flagler Hall, using and. defacing fraternity-related graffiti by adding "SUCKS" after the Greek letters. There was not a Stetsonian who was not terrorized by the hateful bear. Like so many other earth-shaking historical happenings (9/11, Michael Jackson's death), each of us has our own story of where we were when we heard the news. My own is particularly harrowing: as 1 opened the blinds of my single room in Stetson Hall on that terrible morning (NEVER FORGET), I saw Fleas® See jar," P. Good Company: Other schools with old men as their mascot include... ©leiMisf :(Rejlj|lsi^ ;?-;-^v|ih|tfbilty: It^orflmo^rsis) Appalachian St. (Mountaineers) UNLV (Rebels) Wake Forest (Demon Deacons) [ftrom £3 £K OS {§£ Jfl Our .marly rant about ""Twilight $5> Page 5 Letters to th Editor Page 6 All about "£Mei Mlho Stare at • Goats9" Page .8. Fire Hazard? by Kaitlye Schulz As most students know from our previous coverage, on Monday, October 12th, a kitchen fire occurred in the University Village Apartments. While one student sustained a minor burn from attempting to put out the fire and a Public Safety officer was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, there were no major injuries sustained. The damage of property was the only concern. But what if the fire was more serious and posed a major threat to the entire building? If a serious emergency were to occur, what would students do to protect themselves? I chose to investigate these questions for myself and am concerned by my findings. "Each apartment has one main exterior door and at least one window in each room that be utilized as escape routes. Each apartment has its own fire extinguisher that is located under the kitchen sink upon move in," said Megan Young, Residential Life Coordinator of the UVA and Hal! A. Young also recommends that students familiarize themselves with evacuation procedures in order to stay safe in case of an. emergency. As someone who has not often visited the apartments, I was at first satisfied by this answer. However, upon researching Florida's standards on fire prevention in different types of buildings, I found an immense amount of information on necessary fire prevention and decided to take a trip over to the UVA apartments and see what I could find. Wandering around the apartments, I observed multiple fire extinguishers as Young described and spoke with some residents who also confirmed that these extinguishers reside within the apartments as well. However, when I asked these same students whether there were any fire escapes other man the main stairs which lead up to the other floors, every student gave me the same answer: no. Following up with these students' answers I searched the outside of the UVA and sure enough, there is not a single fire escape on any of the multi- floored apartment buildings. In response to Young's comment that there is "at least one window in each room that can be utilized as an escape route" tny question is: what about students living in the upper floors of the apartments? If & fire were to occur that blocked ihc front door leading to the only evacuation route (the main concrete stairs) what would the students be expected to do? "1 would be angry if my son or daughter lived in the university apartments and I found out there are no fire escapes. Irs not safe," commented a Stetson parent who chose to remain anonymous. The lack of concern, for student's safety in UVA is disturbing and should not be taken lightly. In the face of a serious incident, students' lives could be at risk if proper fire safety standards arc not adhered to. Thankfully the previous fire was on the first floor, where students are indeed able to 'use their windows as an escape.' Next time, we might not be so lucky.