The Statesman informing stony brook university for more than 50 years
Volume LV, Issue 7
Monday, October 17, 2011
sbstatesman.com
Fire on ESS building roof damages two labs By Christian Santana Assistant News Editor
In room 317 of the Earth and Space Sciences building, black soot marks the ceiling just under the spot where a smoldering ember sparked a fire on the roof last Monday. The ESS building was undergoing roof repairs in which workers were using a method known as “torch-down roofing,” a commonly used procedure that involves directly heating slabs of asphalt with a torch to adhere them to a surface. Though the asphalt barrier that results from torch-down roofing is safe, the application process is a wellknown fire hazard. Since torchdown roofing is commonly done in segments, workers had left at around 2 p.m. that Monday, planning to return in an hour so that the roof's progress could be inspected. According to Owen Evans,
the director of laboratories and building manager at ESS, an ember had gotten into the insulating material beneath the asphalt, where there was not enough oxygen for it to burn out properly and it had smoldered until around 9 p.m. “It's an artifact of the way you do these roofs,” Evans said. John Gallo, the university's manager of fire safety, said that the fire had spread over a six-foot section of the roof, burning for little more than three minutes prior to the arrival of the Stony Brook and Setauket fire departments. Room 317, also known as the mass spectrometry lab, was a laboratory reserved for graduate students and researchers. Its pure white walls create an atmosphere that belies the faint odor of smoke that continues to linger in the air, and large clear tarps Continued on Page 8
Construction begins on hotel By Gavin Stern Contributing Writer
Bare dirt replaces 3.7 acres of forest that once stood near the main entrance to the university. By the fall of 2012, a Hilton Hotel will peek over the row of trees that line Shirley Strum-Kenny Drive and Nicolls Road. The university hopes this hotel will benefit its annual 500,000 guests and visitors, but the location has been a source of controversy since plans were first announced in 2009. “The initial phase of construction is underway,” said Helen Carrano, the university's director of community relations. “Concrete footings and foundation walls are in progress.” The final hotel will be five stories high and contain 135 guest-rooms with 5,000 square feet of meeting space. SBHC Private Equity IV, LLC, owned by Stony Brook alumnus Robert J. Frey, is financing the construction and leasing the land from the university. In addition to the
benefits of the hotel, the university will receive a minority equity share and $100,000 per year in rent with a 3 percent per year escalation fee. Crescent Hotels & Resorts, LLC, a franchise of Hilton Garden Inn, will manage the hotel. “I’m a little uncomfortable about the further development of the land. But it will provide benefits for the university,” said Sean Burton, an English and history double major. Burton, a senior, hopes that the hotel will benefit student clubs and events that rely on out-of-state support, like the I-CON science fiction convention this spring. However, the forest was previously used as an outdoor laboratory for biology students. “The loss is, in my opinion, a great one for the university,” said Caitlin Fisher-Reid, a doctoral candidate in the department of ecology and evolution. “The beauty of the forest was its proximity to the Life Sciences Continued on Page 8
Marching band takes 5th Ave. p. 7
EZRA MARGONO/ THE STATESMAN
The Setauket Fire Department responds to the fire that began on the roof of the Earth and Space Sciences building on Oct. 10, and damaged two labs.
Press and Think Magazine merge By Alessandra Malito News Editor
The Stony Brook Press and Think magazine, two campus publications, are coming together under the Press’s name, what editors say to be a consolidation of services to the campus. “One of the main reasons why we feel this merger is going to be successful is we both do a lot of things similarly,” said Adam Peck, a senior journalism major and founder and former editor of Think. “It seems almost silly that we’re both trying to do very similar things when we could be doing things together.” The two publications will remain separate entities for the rest of the
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semester for clerical purposes such as interns who are currently working under Think’s name for credit and because Think is registered as a club. Content created for Think will, however, slowly be integrated onto the Press’s website, and by next semester, the two editorial boards will come together as one. In time, Think’s website, thinksb. com, will be forwarding its viewers to the Press’s website, sbpress.com. Articles chosen by the editors of Think will be provided for the print issues of the Press. Meanwhile, the Press’s editors will provide content for the newly consolidated website. About 15 members of Think, including interns and editors, will be moving to the Press, according to
Peck. “The Press has always labeled themselves as the alternative campus publication and that’s where I still think we are,” said Nick Statt, a senior journalism major and the executive editor of the Press, adding that the paper pokes fun at itself and others. “Think previously identified themselves as progressive leftleaning.” According to Statt, the Press does not have a declared left- or rightwing balance. "The word alternative in what it means to our culture is that we try to do things in a unique way, not very straightforward," Statt said. "In a Continued on Page 8
Stony Brook rolls in 55-6 win p. 20