February 12 2014
rusader www.crusadernews.com
Year 45, No. 7
Presorted Standard US Postage PAID Liberal, KS Permit NO.114
Liberal, Kansas
Heightened security locks dorm doors An off-campus threat against two Seward County students caused heightened security measures at the Student Living Center this week. Dean of Student Services Celeste Donovan said, “We didn’t want to frighten students or create a panic if the threat was not real, so we took a proactive measure.” The proactive measure required all residents of the Student Living Center to enter the building from the front because all other doors were locked. “We informed city police immediately after the threat had been brought to our attention. We take every rumor of a threat seriously,” Donovan said. The threat against the two students put into question holding
this week’s scheduled basketball game. “We all decided that cancelling the game would be overreacting, because only two individuals were named in the threat,” Donovan said. Donovan added that the game would have the full staff of security present as well as city police to help keep all game attendees and players safe. “The police are fully aware of the situation. We encourage anyone to report any unsafe, suspicious or criminal activity witnessed,” Donovan said. A report of suspicious activity has been filed with the city police with an assist from the sheriff’s department, however the person who made the threat has not been named pending further investigation. n For additional information, see security report on Page 2.
Terri Barnes
Steve Wiens
Dawn Shouse Editor
Students feel the love or not. — Page 8
soakedCourtesy photo / Jackie Arnold
SCCC freshman Jackie Arnold picks through her soaked homework after a sprinkler head broke in her dorm room and damaged almost all of her personal belongings.
Freeze burns student then leaves cold. — Page 2
Simon says Lady Saints rock. — Pages 4-5
New flight safety class troubleshoots. — Page 3
Baseball hits the diamond. — Page 7
Sprinkler system breaks, causes damage in dorms Dawn Shouse Editor Three water related incidents happened in the Seward County Community College/ Area Technical School dorms last week. The first incident happened shortly after 4 p.m. on Wednesday in Jackie Arnold’s second floor dorm room in the east wing of the Student Living Center, when a fire suppressant sprinkler head broke, flooding the entire room and destroying many of Arnold’s personal belongings. Some of the items ruined were her Xbox, cell phone, microwave, computer laptop, books, furniture, clothes and homework. “I am very thankful for the people who helped me during the water disaster,” Arnold said. “I don’t know what I would do without my sister and brother-in-law, my tennis team, the softball and baseball teams and all my friends. I can’t say thanks enough. I hope everything gets better and all my belongings get replaced.” According to dorm manager Kate Mulligan, the deans are discussing what the college is liable for and have contacted American Sprinklers, the company that installed the system in the buildings. “I would strongly encourage students to get renters insurance,” Mulligan said. “It is relatively inexpensive and if something like this were to happen again, there would be no question that their electronics and valuables would get replaced.” The second event occurred later that evening. “At about 9:50 p.m. we received a call from the Student Living Center that there was a
second pipe that had busted. “At this time, we are assuming that the fire rated PVC pipe for the sprinkler system had frozen,” said Roger Scheib, director of building grounds and security. The pipe burst near the stairwell of the north hallway of the Student Living Center. Freshman Kimberly Vanley recounted her experience. “After the game, I went to my dorm room and all the fire alarms were going off. I could see water dripping from the ceiling so I put towels under the door to keep the water from coming inside the room.
be completely repaired is set. “The school has insurance for the building, but we strongly encourage students to get renters insurance because depending on the situation, they might not covered by the school’s insurance,” Scheib said. “But if you have renters insurance, your property or your valuables will be covered under that policy.” “We’ve had minor water leaks from the copper pipe fittings but never anything like this before. If any of the students notice leaks or any unusual water, notify the resident assistants or the dorm manager immediately.” Mulligan said she was amazed at the quick reaction of dorm residents. “I got here at about 15 minutes after the water started going off, so it was really cool to see that the baseball, softball, tennis and other residents had just jumped in and helped. No questions and they didn’t want anything in return. It was just one of their fellow students needed help and they all jumped in and that is the positive side of all of it. We got to see how selfless everyone was that day. “They all understood that it was a stressful situation for me, for the student whose room it was in and for the deans. “It was incredible and still now I see students on campus that ask, ‘How’s it going over there? Is everything back to normal? Has she gotten back in her room?’” “It was so cool to see that and realize that we are like a big family over here and we’ve got each other’s backs,” Mulligan said. She pointed out it was unfortunate that it had to be the way it was, but that nonetheless, it was good to see the helpfulness and caring among residents.
“We’ve had minor water leaks from the copper pipe fittings, but never anything like this before.” — Roger Scheib The smell was disgusting.” Vanley said that she slept across the hall because the smell was so bad and her heater did not work. “We believe that the first thing that happen was the heater on that side stopped working,” Scheib said. “That is what allowed the pipe from the fire suppression system to freeze.” The third incident that happened on Thursday in the north Mansions was minor with no damage for residents. “We are still working on getting everything dry,” Mulligan said Friday afternoon. “We have some men here that are drying out the ceiling in the east hallway on the first floor where the water seeped down. “On the north side, it was just the sheet rock which was easy to replace.” The equipment to dry the ceilings arrived Thursday, but no estimation of when everything will
Crusader photo / Dawn Shouse
Fans were set up to dry the rugs, furniture, sheetrock and ceilings of the dorm room soaked by water.
NISOD nominees selected to represent SCCC/ATS Maggie Mahan Crusader staff The National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development nominees for Seward County Community College and Area Technical School were named at a staff meeting last week. The nominees this year are Terri Barnes, the humanities division secretary, and Steve Wiens, the assistant director of the Area Technical School and Title V Director. In May, Barnes and Wiens will travel to Austin, Texas, and attend the annual NISOD Conference where they will both receive a medallion that they will wear throughout the conference. All recipients of the NISOD Excellence Award will be listed in an award booklet that is given to all conference attendees and mailed to the president of each college. Barnes has said in response to
being nominated that she is proud to represent SCCC/ATS as a NISOD Award winner. She did not know she was being nominated and was surprised when she found out she was chosen. “I keep hearing that the NISOD conference is a great conference, so I am looking forward to going to the conference,” Barnes said. Wiens said he was very surprised when he found out he had been nominated. He feels there are many deserving people who could have also been nominated, but he is very appreciative and thankful for his nomination. “I feel ... Wow! I feel honored. I don’t know how else to put it other than truly an honor. I am speechless.” At the conference in Austin, Wiens hopes to get a better understanding of the community college system, and find out better ways to benefit SCCC/ATS.
International Pancake Day races into 65th year of local celebration Dawn Shouse Editor This year, Pancake Day will take place on March 4. This is the 65th year Liberal will host Pancake Day. The day starts at 6 a.m. at the Seward County Event Center with a pancake breakfast. There are many events throughout the day including the International Race at 11:55 a.m. The starting point of the race is Sixth Street and Kansas. The Pancake Day Parade starts at 3 p.m. the route is scheduled to start from Seventh Street and Kansas to Trail Street. The signups for all the races have already started and will continue through Feb. 21 at City Recreation Center. The number of contestants in each race is limited to 15, and each category will be closed once the limit is reached. There is no entry fee and no late signups will be accepted. All International Pancake Day events require either registration
or tickets to attend. To sign up for events and for more information on what events are available go to pancakeday.net. Finals for the 2014 Talent Show will be held on March 3. The Pancake Day Talent Show will start at 7:30 p.m. in the James Maskus Auditorium at Liberal High School. The finalist will be competing for trophies and prize money in four divisions. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Advance tickets may be purchased at the Tourist Information Center at One Yellow Brick Road, the Pancake Day Hall of Fame, First National Bank in Liberal, or from talent show contestants. Among the finalist for the talent show are Seward County Community College/Area Technical School students Kimberly, Natalie and Olivia Robinson who will be featured in the next issue of the Crusader. There will be no classes scheduled at SCCC/ATS March 4.