Where The Newspaper Stands

August 09, 2006


Like every fire, that at CNU brings opportunities to learn

As Christopher Newport University sifts through what remains of Madison Hall dorm, it's essential that another sifting go on: of what happened before, during and after Friday's fire, so lessons can be learned that can be put to use to protect lives and property and help with recovery when disaster strikes.

Even in the midst of destruction, good fortune smiled on CNU. Although a firefighter was hospitalized for heat exhaustion, no life was lost and no students were injured. That is due largely to the happenstance of timing: The fire occurred when the dorm was not fully occupied and during daylight hours.

It is both essential and inevitable to contemplate the scenario everyone dreads: a fire at night, when a building is full of sleeping people. In conjuring that up, these observations come to mind:

* The sprinklers worked. That's great -- and another reminder of how important sprinklers are. Retrofitting dorms built without them is expensive, but may be essential -- for every college.

* The fire alarms did not work, because they were taken out by an electrical surge. Clearly, a better backup system is needed. If this had happened at night, what would have roused residents if the alarms had failed? There's another sidebar: Students have been known to cover up smoke alarms; colleges must be vigilant in checking for this, and unrelenting in punishing it.

* The dorm did not have a lightning rod, which might have diverted a strike into the ground; the builder explains that lightning rods aren't common in low-rise buildings. Experience with the destruction lightning can cause now makes us ask: Should they be installed in every dorm, regardless of height?

* The building sustained damage so widespread it's not yet clear whether it can be saved. Are there ways, through construction methods and materials, to make dorms more fire resistant?

* What can the university do to help students be prepared? One thing, surprisingly, is to teach them the value of bank accounts so no students find themselves in the pickle feared by one senior who had $4,000 in cash in his room, his spring tuition nest egg. It's usually kept in a safe-deposit box, but students would be better off keeping their caches in insured, interest- generating bank accounts.

* What about afterwards? Things seem to have gone smoothly, with students receiving gift cards to buy emergency supplies and the assurance the college will find them housing. It's always helpful to critique the response to a disaster as well as the events of the disaster itself. Did things go well because of good decisions and actions at the time or because all these contingencies -- from emergency cash to emergency housing -- had been worked out in advance?

Dormitory fires are not rare. And they're all learning experiences.

After a fire in May 2005 damaged Preston Hall and nearby Giles Hall, the College of William and Mary hired an expert to evaluate its fire suppression and alarm systems. It has started working its way through the multi-year plan that resulted, beginning with the top priorities. It has started replacing fire alarms in a number of dorms and intends to install sprinkler systems in those that lack them. That will cost millions, but it's hard to put a price on peace of mind.

Not only can CNU learn from this experience, but so can every college and residential facility, for they should all heed every opportunity to strengthen their ability to keep the young people in their care safe. *


Kaine wants to pull the plug on the electric chair

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine wants to unplug the electric chair and send it to the junkyard. He thinks lethal injection should be the only method of execution that Virginia uses.

The instinct is understandable. There's something repulsive about electrocuting a person. Wouldn't it be better to execute criminals in a way that's less likely to offend our sensibilities? In a way that's less painful?

But it isn't that simple.

Consider the case of convicted murderer Brandon Hedrick. On July 21, the state put Hedrick to death by sending two 90-second cycles of electricity through his body. A newspaper reporter who witnessed the execution described how Hedrick's body jolted upward, held in the chair by nylon straps, and how smoke rose from Hedrick's body at the start of each cycle.

Consider, too, that Hedrick chose to die this way. Virginia is one of 10 states that offers death-row inmates the choice between electrocution and lethal injection.

Some people argue that it's time to take that choice away. If the state is going to have executions, they say, then it should be able to make the decision about what method to use, and it should be the responsibility of the state to choose the most humane method possible.

Daily Press Articles