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April 26, 2002

Within a four-day period, four fire alarms were pulled in VI and VII, which has caused Residence Life to hand the ongoing investigation over to the Virginia Beach Fire Department. On Apr. 5 around midnight, two fire alarms were pulled almost simultaneously on second-floor Old Hall and in the walkway in VI behind Eggleston Commons. On the following night at around 4 a.m., another alarm was pulled on first-floor Old Hall. Then, on Monday around 11:45 p.m., a fourth alarm was set off in the VII Commons.

A recent installation of an electronic fire suppression system enables security to determine the exact location of pulled fire alarms. When an alarm is pulled, the entire building is "dumped," according to Ryan Brown, assistant director of residence life, and everyone must evacuate. "Residence Life has to respond and determine if it's a false alarm," he said. "Each time a fire alarm is pulled on this campus, the Virginia Beach Fire Department is required to send an entire engine company, about 12 to 15 firefighters, to our campus to ensure that lives are not in danger."

As a result, about 300 people are affected by the false alarms and the operation costs thousands of dollars. In addition to all of the residents, Residence Life staff, and firefighters inconvenienced, campus security must respond to the alarm and can no longer patrol campus, ensure the safety of vehicles, or respond to room lockouts. When a student is suspected of pulling a false alarm, Residence Life and security can either handle the situation through the internal arbitration system or release it to the Virginia Beach Fire Department. Because of the frequent pulls in such a short period, the school has turned these cases over to a fire marshal, who is heading the ongoing investigation.

While Brown is not optimistic in discovering the culprits of these alarms, he explained that every situation is handled independently. However, two male suspects were identified by Resident Assistants Victoria Scavo and Naomi Belsinger, who saw them running outside the VII commons after they heard the alarm. "When I saw them running," said Scavo, "my first instinct was to run after them. We don't know if they pulled the alarm. It just looked suspicious."

VI residents received a memorandum from Residence Life after the incidents, stating that "any individual found responsible for any previous or future false fire alarms on this campus may be subject to immediate suspension or expulsion, and local police may be contacted for criminal charges to be filed." Since two of the alarms were pulled in Old Hall, in the event of any additional false alarms in that hall, each resident will be charged several hundred dollars of the several thousand it costs to send out an engine company.

Residence Life has asked students to remember just seven months ago on Sept. 11 when "we all hailed firefighters and policemen as true American heroes for their selfless acts of heroism." Brown asked, "Where did all that patriotism for firefighters and police officers go?"

BOOK FAIR

Photo by Amylynn Coddington. Sophomores Mike Porter and Marc Brown pore over the many volumes available at the Phi Alpha Theta book sale. See story on More NEWS.

As a result of an underestimation of how many students would be attending private colleges during the spring semester of 2002, Virginia residents receiving the Tuition Assistance Grant (TAG) were billed $105. "I felt betrayed," said freshman Jason Green. "I thought everything was paid for, and then I get a bill in the mail."

The Tuition Assistance Grant is offered to all Virginia residents who are attending private colleges. In order to receive the grant, one must be domiciliary resident of Virginia, and if one is a dependent, one’s parents must be a domiciliary residents. "The grant is a tuition equalization program," said Director of Financial Aid, Deanie Hickman. "Our state tax dollars go to support state schools. This gives Virginia residents a choice to attend private schools."

The General Assembly appropriates an amount of money to award students equally. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia or SCHEV estimates how many students will receive the grant during a given semester.

What happened this semester is that the projection made by SCHEV was less than the actual number of students receiving the grant. In the fall semester students received $1,500, but because of the underestimation, students only received $1,395 this semester. The Financial Aid Department was not aware of this until well into the spring semester.

Financial Aid gives the state council the projected figures for the spring semester in the fall, but does not give the actual figures until mid-semester in the spring after the add/drop period. The state then notified Financial Aid and Financial Aid sent a letter out to the students. Virginia Wesleyan students receiving the grant were billed $105.

"Next year the General Assembly will cut appropriations because of a shortfall on tax revenues," said Hickman. Next year students receiving the grant will get $2,025 for both the fall and spring semesters. Students should receive $1,313 in the fall and $1,312 in the spring. According to Cary Sawyer, assistant vice president for finance, the grant may decrease even more in following years.

Correction
In our Apr. 5 issue, The Marlin Chronicle highlighted former VWC security officer turned art professor Nick Bottis. The art that accompanied the front-page story was the work of VWC senior Ellen Blaisdell. The Chronicle regrets the error. Artist Bottis, below, displays one of his large-framed paintings at his home in Virginia Beach.