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By Stephanie Raabe
ITHACA–Once dinnertime comes around at the Ithaca College circle apartments and the residents begin cooking, it is a common habit of the residents to illegally shut off the smoke detectors to prevent them from going off. This could potentially be very dangerous.
“Sometimes even if were boiling something or frying something it can set off the smoke detector throughout the entire house. Even if we have the range on just the smoke from cooking will set it off. It’s really annoying so sometimes before we even start cooking we set off the smoke detector from the fuse box,” said Junior Graham Martin.
An issue with this other than it being illegal is whether or not they remember to turn it back on once they are finished with cooking.
“It’s illegal if they get caught. It could be pretty serious,” said Mark Swanhart, fire protection specialist of Ithaca College. “Tampering with a life safety device is a pretty serious crime. I like to think that they are not doing it but, its human nature. They play with things, they have parties, they smoke, and they do different things.”
College students nation wide should take responsibility when it comes to fire safety considering the close quarter they live in. Fires are easily started and can easily spread.
According to the National Fire Protection Association U.S fire departments have responded to approximately 3,570 fires within dormitories, fraternities, and sororities in 2003 to 2006. There have been seven deaths, 54 fire injuries and a total of $29.4 million dollars in property damage and lately the numbers have been rising. The most common cause of these fires was from cooking.
The New York state law states that for apartment buildings, dormitories and all similar buildings require fire alarms are installed outside of each sleeping area, in any room used for sleeping purposes and on each of story within a household. It is the responsibility of the residents to maintain their smoke detectors in working condition.
When college students nationwide move to an off-campus apartment they should be aware of fire safety more than ever.
“On a safety scale about 10 percent of what they really need to protect the people are in these apartments off campus. It’s scary some of the conditions that you see. Some of these apartments I bet don’t even have any form of fire protection,” said Swanhart.
For students moving off campus the Fire Safety Departments both Cornell University and Ithaca College encourage students to talk with their landlords about the locations of their smoke detectors, where an accessible fire extinguisher is and how to use it.
“Going over my lease that I signed for next year I just notice there was not much about fire safety in it. I guess that was the last thing on my mind at the time when I was signing it that I didn’t even ask,” said Sophomore Colleen Ellif. “I am definitely worried for next year.”
The Higher Education Opportunity Act requires all colleges to provide fire safety education and programs to train students what to do in case of an emergency. Classes are required because most students do not know how to act in an emergency.
“We have class here on campus were we show the students how to use an extinguisher. How to take it off the wall, pull the pin and use it,” said Swanhart. “Its good training and its easy stuff to do.”
Soundslide: http://heartonica.blogspot.com/2009/10/gambling-with-life.html
When senior Ryan Miga went to a party his freshman year at Ithaca College, things went sour fast. His friend, who he describes as a star student with a perfect record, got sick and needed medical attention. After carrying her from their location off campus to near the entrance of the college, Miga called the school’s public safety for help.
“She had too much to drink,” Miga said. “She got really sick, passed out and could barely walk. Public safety picked us up and took us to the health center. I remember talking to the guy and asking if there were going to be any judicial consequences, and he said there wouldn’t be.”
However after spending the night in the college’s Hammond Health Center, Miga said his friend ended up getting a notice that she had been written up judicially.
“I found out later that if you can get yourself to the health center you have medical confidentiality,” he said. “However, if public safety picks you up you don’t get that confidentiality, and they can throw the book at you.”
Senior Gretchen Duerr is the president of the college’s chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy. The group’s main goal this semester has been to create a Good Samaritan policy at Ithaca College to protect students from the fear of getting into judicial trouble when seeking medical help while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
“People are so afraid they’ll get into trouble if they are caught doing drugs or underage drinking that they are afraid to come forward,” Duerr said. “The Good Samaritan policy would basically say that the people who have drank too much or overdosed wont get into trouble along with the people who call in for help or are otherwise involved.”
Duerr and Students for a Sensible Drug Policy don’t just have their sights set on Ithaca College though. They said that they want to use a study done at Cornell University after they implemented their own Good Samaritan policy to convince the town of Ithaca into adopting the policy.
“When Cornell put their policy into effect they did a study,” Duerr said. “It showed that drinking did not go up at all but the amount of calls to 911 doubled. Once we get the Good Samaritan policy passed at Ithaca we’re going to talk to the town and see if they can accept the policy too.”
Mike Leary, head of Judicial Affairs at Ithaca College, said that while he is supportive of the Good Samaritan policy to help students get the support they need, there would be restrictions if the intoxicated student breaks other rules such as vandalism or committing acts of violence. He also said that even though the policy is not in effect yet, students should still put their medical safety first.
“I would still encourage that person or their friend to contact a resident assistant or public safety,” he said. “Of course, if a resident assistant or public safety is called, they have to do a report and the student is seen judicially. However, normally for a first time violation a student is given a written warning and has to take an alcohol education class.”
Miga said he worries that the college’s administration is putting students at risk by not having the policy in effect.
“The administration is gambling with students’ lives,” Miga said. “Even if only one person’s safety is put in danger because they couldn’t get themselves to the health center and they didn’t want to call public safety for fear of judicial consequences that’s too much. The administration should be enabling people to get the help they need.”
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By Casey Musarra
The smell of smoke fumes still lingered in the air Saturday in Watkins Glen, N.Y., as workers removed remains from two local businesses, Village Variety and Yesterday’s Paradise, that suffered from a fire six days earlier.
Though the buildings are depleted, the business owners said they are looking to move on.
Village Variety owner Eddie Peters was injured in the fire, suffering burns and cuts from broken glass. While he was treated at Schuyler Hospital in Montour Falls, he was released later that day and said he’s not sure what will come next for his business.
“Obviously, at this point, we can’t get back into the building right away,” Peters said. “I’m hoping to move some place else, but a lot of what I had was destroyed.”
Peters’ business consisted of mostly selling used books and racing memorabilia. He said with the rarity of his products, it is going to be a struggle to get pack on his feet.
“I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to pick up the pieces of what’s left and have a reputable business,” he said.
Peters said he is still in shock from what happened and is trying to mentally recover before doing anything work related.
“I still can’t really believe it happened,” he said. “It was such an average day, and then all of a sudden, the building was on fire. It was an eye opening experience for me.”
Yesterday’s Paradise, the building connected to Village Variety, was also burned in the blaze. Linda Henneman, the owner of Yesterday’s Paradise, said as an antique shop, she has been having the same problems as Peters.
“With the type of business I’m doing, it’s really hard to start over,” Henneman said. “But I’m hoping to find another building and kind of go from there.”
Jim Guild, the buildings’ landlord, said his properties are insured, so he is not worried about himself. He said he plans to repair the damages to the building even after recently upgrading the buildings’ exterior.
Guild said Henneman and Peters were tenants in his buildings for 17 of the 20 years he operated them.
“I just feel bad for my tenants,” he said. “They’re the one’s making out worst in all of this.”
Despite the struggles Henneman and Peters have had over the past couple of weeks, Guild said community members are doing all they can to help.
“Fortunately, [for Henneman and Peters] Watkins Glen is a tight knit community,” Guild said. “We really care about each other and people are really doing everything they can to help.”
http://casefaceandjackattack.blogspot.com/2009/10/for-class.html
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A Hispanic woman enters the Red Cross looking for a cot for her family. She struggles to communicate with an employee of the branch in Ithaca, NY. But for Greg Cotterill, director of emergency service, the task was of ease. He was able to come up with an immediate solution for the employee and instruct her to call a translator at Cornell University. Coming up with solutions for problems that arise is an important part of Cotterill’s job at the Red Cross.
Cotterill has 12 years of emergency management experience in the U.S. Airforce. He has worked with the Red Cross for a year and a half and is also a volunteer fireman in Lansing.
“I often times get called to a fire scene,” he said. “After I’m done helping to put out the fire I’ll introduce myself to the family and decide what I and the Red Cross can do to help the family during this difficult time. It allows me to see the disaster from all sides.”
According to the Red Cross website, Tompkins County American Red Cross Emergency Services responded to 18 local disasters in the fiscal year of 2009. A total of 22 families received monetary assistance for the Tompkins chapter for a total amount of $13,681. The Tompkins County Chapter currently has about 10 emergency volunteers on staff and are always looking for more according to Cotterill.
Kathleen Rourke is one of the volunteers for the Red Cross. She is also a member of the Disaster Services Human Resources, which allows her to assist in disasters nationally. Rourke is also the chair of the emergency services committee and a member of the disaster action team. As the chair of the emergency committee she is there to assist Cotterill in making sure the needs of the County are being met and she said they work as a partnership.
“Two of us never go out alone, we receive a call from fire control,” and then the two of the volunteers will head to the disaster scene, regardless of the time. The volunteers are responsible to fill out the paper work in regards to the disaster and assess the victims’ needs for shelter, food, and clothing, we get them what they need until the chapter itself is open,” said Rourke.
Linda Callhan volunteers for the Red Cross as well and has been with the Red Cross of Tompkins County since Hurricane Katrina. She said she wishes more people would volunteer.
“Volunteering doesn’t take up a lot of time,” she said. “We are really, really lucky in our county that we don’t have a lot of disasters.”
The largest disaster the Tompkins County Chapter has dealt with recently was the Overlook apartment fire in July. Eight families were displaced and two apartments were completely destroyed. The Red Cross recovers the families and not the structures.
“We operate by volunteers, unfortunately volunteerism is kind of a tough business because people come and they go,” Cotterrill said.
Tori McClurg
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Small town dreams do come true for some individuals, like Shane Wolf, a local resident who is climbing the ranks in professional baseball.
The left-handed pitcher plans to stay around the Ithaca area until he begins spring training with the Houston Astros in March of 2010.
Wolf first noticed scouts observing him during his summer league team with the New York Collegiate Baseball League between the summer of his sophomore and junior year in college.
“They’ll say a couple things to you and then they went and saw me play at IC and then it just went from there,” said Wolf.
Wolf grew up in Lansing, New York and has been improving upon his baseball experience since he was young. With four sectional titles under their belts Wolf’s high school baseball team experienced a great deal of success. His high school coach, Ed Redmond, said,
“Shane always had a great work ethic, [he] was a kid that really got by on his ability to work and train, he didn’t start to grow physically until college.”
He continued his baseball career as a walk-on at SUNY Buffalo.
He did not enjoy playing with this division one team, they were not winning as many games as he had wished. Wolf said that if he had stuck around at SUNY Buffalo scouts probably wouldn’t have noticed him.
He transferred to Ithaca College in 2007 of his junior year and enjoyed more success locally.
Ed Redmond, the football and baseball coach at Lansing for 25 years, has only had one other student make it as far as Wolf professionally. The ’94 Lansing graduate, Bill Carey, signed a free agent contract with the Cardinals and played for two years.
Wolf wishes to make it professionally someday. He plans to work his way up and, “hopefully go pro eventually.”
His training makes for a long day Wolf says. They start early in the morning and do weight training and other practices until late in the afternoon.
“By the time the day is over you’re exhausted and the next morning you get up and do it all over again,” said Wolf.
According to Redmond, Wolf was, “just a skinny kid in high school, who really got by on his work ethic and his ability to outwork people physically.” As a professional player this work ethic continues to benefit him.
“Wolf is a great success story, it is great to see him get rewarded for his efforts, it is very gratifying,” said Ed Redmond.
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The Little Reds, A once divided team unites this season to make a name for themselves in section AA football.
“This year we are more together as team. Everyone is together its pretty much family. Last year people didn’t get along so much. This year we’ve bonded during the summer and the off season and we came together, we play good together,” said Junior Zach Williams, the outside linebacker for the Little Reds.
This past Friday was the Little Red’s first defeat against Binghamton with a final score of 34-23. Prior to this game their record was 5-0, the longest winning streak the team has had since 1994.
The Little Red started off the season against Cornwall, one of the more difficult games they would face. “It was a gratifying win, and from there we just got confidence and we started to win,” said Coach Edward Redmond. From their Norwich, Southside, Windsor, and Horseheads fell victims to the Little Red’s newfound confidence. And then Binghamton ended their streak.
Although there are no obvious reasons for the newfound success of their team, the recent restructuring of their football program could be to blame.
“We structure kids a little bit more. We’ve monitored academic progress. We got them on a weekly check-in program with the teachers and we’ve changed the work ethics of the kids in terms of practice and weight room. We have made some demands and we haven’t waivered from those demands,” said Redmond. “We as coaches just aren’t going to bend.”
This season is Redmond’s second season coaching. He previously worked at Lansing for 24 years. Since Redmond was a 1977 graduate of Ithaca High School he seized the opportunity to come to Ithaca with the intentions of revamping the football program in mind.
“I feel like we are turning a corner programmatically we are laying the foundation for many years of success in this program,” said Redmond.
The Little Reds will graduate 16 seniors this spring but with an undefeated junior varsity team filling in the gaps Redmond and the Little Reds are still very confident for the years to come.
Zach Williams and the rest of the Little Reds have two more games this season, Union Endicott and Owego. Regardless of how the rest of the season goes, the Little Reds will carry on next year with their newfound confidence. They’ve had their taste of success and as “a family” will return next year to once again push the bar even higher.
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By Casey Musarra
Ithaca College sophomore Spencer White sprints up and down the field alongside the rest of his teammates on the football team. Fully suited in a helmet and pads, White is just like the rest of his teammates, but underneath it all, White said he is lucky to be alive.
“The doctor said if I had gone to the hospital probably a day later, I probably would’ve been a vegetable,” White said.
This summer, after experiencing migraine headaches for several days, White underwent two surgeries after experiencing a serious sinus infection that went to his brain. He said for the first few days after taking Advil, the headaches would go away.
“One day it just wouldn’t go away and I told my mom, ‘Take me to the hospital,’” White said.
White was initially diagnosed with meningitis and received a spinal tap at a hospital in New Jersey before checking in to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., where he was diagnosed with a sinus infection.
“With an infection that serious, it was important that we got in there right away,” Dr. John Abrahams, a neurological surgeon at Westchester Medical Center, said.
Dr. Abrahams said he and his staff performed two surgical procedures on White. The first was functional endoscopic sinus surgery, which involves inserting an endoscope through the patient’s nose in order to minimize cutting and skin trauma.
“FESS is done to drain the sinuses and avoid damaging the eye,” he said.
The second procedure was brain surgery to remove a brain abscess, which is a collection of pus surrounded by inflammation. Abrahams said the procedure took several hours, but it went smoothly.
White, who had never experienced allergies or other symptoms related to sinus infections before, said he still wonders how the incident happened.
White’s mother, Natalie Hicks, said he saw about eight doctors over the six to seven week recovery process.
“It was a lot to deal with,” Hicks said. “He’s my only child and we’re very close and just the possibility of losing him—because he didn’t come out of the coma at first, so that really threw me for a loop. It’s an experience that I never, ever wanted to experience with my child.”
White has now fully recovered, and after multiple MRIs, he received approval from doctors to continue playing football.
While Dr. Abrahams said there are always risks involved with head injuries in football, he said White can continue playing without concern.
Despite recovering only a month before training camp began, White has started the entire season after coming in as a starter halfway through last season. Through six games this year, White has two interceptions, a forced fumble and 38 tackles.
“I’m proud of him,” Hicks said. “His determination to come back and play, that was something he had to pull off. That was a big step to come back at all and still be a starter.”
White said it was a struggle to get back into shape during preseason training, but said there are more important things to worry about.
“I just thank God every day that I’m still alive and I’m thankful to play this game,” White said.
