Page 97 - ThePhoenix1996-97

Special of Old Gill Gym p Edition Photos from INSIDE THE DESTRUCTION pages 6 & 7 Volume XV, Number 7 Western Maryland College Thursday, February 20, 1997 BLAZING FIRE DESTROYS CAMPUS LANDMARK Cause of fire still unknown; officials have been able to rule out the possibility of criminal activity BY HF.:ATH£R WOODS The blaze raged on for hours as S/uf!Wnler the firefighters struggled to confine On the morning of December the fire to Gill gym (Old Gill). 31,1996, a lone painter arrived at Their efforts were not in vain as the the WMC campus to continue 12 year old Physical Education work on Gill gym only to discover Learning Center (PELC) and the flames coming out of the basement surrounding buildings had only door at the rear of the gym. limited smoke damage. The painter quickly notified the By mid-afternoon, the fire was Westminster Fire Engine and Hose under control. Company who arrived on the scene However, the athletic area in within minutes. Old Gill was completely destroyed, Unfortunately, it was already while the athletic and military sci- too Iate. ence departmental offices which The fire increased to a five- are also located in Old Gill sUf- alarm blaze which took more than fered smoke and light fire damage. 200 firefighters from 15 volunteer The next day a contractor spe- companies from Carrol!, Balti- cializing in disaster cleanup began more, Frederick. and Howard coun- the tedious task of preparing the ties as well as from southern Penn- area for reopening. sylvania to handle. As a result of the crew's effi- The heat and smoke were so ciency, PELC was available by intense that the men and women January 4 for Green Terror wres- fighting the blaze were forced to tling and women's basketball com- evacuate and fight the fire from the petitions. outside. The athletic offices on the first Fortunately, no serious injuries floor received a make over, includ- The/ire consumed most oj the roof. as seen here, and hollowed out the building, leaving oni y an empty . occurred. Continued on page 6 Contracted disaster cleanup will be taking place over the next few weeks and a new roof will be constructed Problems with parking persist New fraternity finds BY JAMES M GROSS homeatWMC SlaffWriter Faculty and students have been tended," said Soltz, ajunior politi- complaining about the parking at BY SARAH SNEU, cal science major. SwffWriler WMC for years, wondering if there Western Maryland College is The group contacted the school are enough spaces for everyone, being invaded by Greeks! administrators and the Inter Greek according to Mitchell Alexander, A new branch of Phi Kappa Council in the fall 1996 semester director of coliege activities. Sigma is coming to WMC. The las! and informed them of their inten- There are more than 900 park- official step for the group is to tions. "Dean Sayre and Anita ing spaces at WMC and according present a final proposal (Q Dean [Kaltenbaugh] have been nothing to Michael Webster, director of Philip Sayre, which currently in the but helpful," Soltz said campus safety, it breaks down like works according to Vice President WMC has a couple of rules for this: 227 employee spaces, about JeffSoltz. beginning a new Greek organiza- 95 graduate student and commuter The new fraternity presently tion. First, the future Phi Kappa spaces, 575 undergraduate spaces, consists of II male students includ- Sigma had to find two advisors and 12 visitor spaces, 9 handicapped ing President Dave Long, Vice write a mission statement. The spaces, and 10 spaces reserved for President Soltz, Secretary Christian mission statement includes state- work vehicles. Wilwohl, and Treasurers Jason Barr ments about brotherhood, scholar- That said, campus safety As you can see here, finding a parking spot on campus can be a difficult task. and Fabrizio Ferranto. Steve Man- ship, and philanthropy. records show that there are 350 to accommodate everyone," says behind Lewis Hall. That lot is be- ger is the acting secretary while continued on page 5 employee Slickers, 356 graduate Webster, "it's just not atl very con- ing tom up in order to build a new Wilwohl is studying abroad in stickers, 285 commuter stickers, venient." science building according to Geneva, Switzerland. The groups Inside and 471 undergraduate stickers. There is ample undergraduate Seidel. two advisors are Dr. Brian Unfortunately the math is not as parking behind Harrison House and Soapbox 2 In order up for those to make easy as it looks. behind the gym in {he water tower lost faculty spots "we are expand- Wladkowski and Dr. Mohamed Sial) Editorial 3 Esa. Many of the employees, gradu- lot, but it is not very convenient, Letters to the Editor 3 and paving the frater- to Seltz, According ate students and commuters have especially when it is cold or rainy ing, redesigning, lot this summer, the nity began as a joke, but eventu- Cupid's Crossword 4 Harrison House stickers on more than one car, and says Ethan Seidel, vice president of adding 40-50 spaces," says Seidel. ally developed more serious goals Tanoffe 5 most graduate students and com- administration and finance. He was unsure as to how those and objectives. This fraternity "is Inside the Destruction (j..7 muters are not on campus all day Is there any hope for more con- new spots would be broken down another option" with a "different Star Wars Review 8 everyday. venient parking in the future? Prob- but he said that some would be fac- style" than the one's already at Speech Contest 9 "This makes figuring out an ably not. According 10 Alexander 10 Soltz said. exact number of cars on campus the faculty and staff would be un- ulty only and some would be stu- WMC, "I feel enriched from attending England trip II dent parking. Senior party almost impossible," says Webster. likely to give up their parking lots, There is enough parking for the activities of my brothers, which Classified.s 12 "Yes, there is enough [parking] especially with the loss of the lot continued on page 5 I normally would not have at-