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Unemployment rates remain high for young adults.
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Check out The Arbiter’s review of Alia’s Coffee House.
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Boise State had three players participating in the NFL Combine.
arbiteronline.com The Arbiter Indepen d en t
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February 24, 2014 • Issue no. 41 Volume 26
Morrison Center fire
Boise Fire Dept. responds to conflagration at Morrison Center
Devin Ferrell Photo Editor
First issue free
Devin Ferrell/THE ARBITER
Boise, Idaho
The Game Center is located in the SUB.
Photos Devin Ferrell/The Arbiter
Game over
Game Center is at risk for closing Keely Mills @PelozaJ
Fire fighters examine the damage in the Danny Peterson theatre. in there we should have had alarms go off throughout the whole structure. It sounds like all we had was an alarm at a given panel that was giving a beep,” Ellis said. Ellis said when a fire is detected it is supposed to trigger an alarm panel that notifies a Boise State substation. The substation then contacts the fire department, which responds accordingly. A bystander called in the fire to 911. The cause of the fire is
still unknown and investigators will be attempting to determine what the ignition point was. The structural integrity of the Morrison Center is expected to be uncompromised, according to Ellis. “This is what we would
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refer to as a fire resistant structure. It’s made of masonry materials—cinderblock, brick, and steel— which hold up pretty well to the affects of fire”. A total of six fire companies from the BFD responded to the call.
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The Boise Fire Department responded to a fire in the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts’ Danny Peterson Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 23. No firefighters or bystanders were hurt. According to Battalion Chief Jake Ellis of the BFD, the fire was isolated to a set of curtains within the theater. “People in the building noticed the ringing of an alarm, found the smoke, identified the fire in the curtain, went for an extinguisher, used an extinguisher but were unable to complete the job because of the amount of smoke,” Ellis said. Sophomore Matthew Short was in the building when he saw smoke. “There was smoke pretty much throughout the building. I was on the second floor practice room and I could just smell smoke,” Short said. Short said he didn’t hear an alarm while in the building. Ellis confirmed the fire panel did not function the way it should have. “As much smoke as was
As much smoke as was in there we should have had alarms throughout the whole structure. It sounds like all we had was an alarm at a given panel that was giving a beep. —Battallion Chief Jake Ellis
Fourth Amendment secures property Ryan Thorne @ryanthorne86
In September of 2012, a Montana man was arrested and charged with felony trafficking after nearly two pounds of marijuana were found in the Taylor dormitory. One of the apartment residents voluntarily let police in. Had residents not cooperated, law enforcement officials would have been forced to obtain a warrant to enter the dorm, a process that would have taken time. “It depends on the judge and the prosecutor that’s available. There are too many variables so there is no way exactly to say how long that would take,” said Boise Police Lt. Rob Gallus. Though Boise State dormitory residents are subject to campus policies that ensure adherence to state and federal law, occupants are still guaranteed the same rights under the constitution as those living off campus. “From a police standpoint, we treat the dorms as we would a general residence outside the university,” Gallus said. This means under the
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Fourth Amendment, police are not allowed to enter a residence on or off campus without probable cause or a warrant. “We don’t have any additional powers as police officers because we are at the university,” Gallus said. Police may enter a residence for a handful of reasons: consent from a resident, crime being committed in plain view or if a
suspect has entered a private area while being pursued. At the university level, resident advisors may enter Boise State dormitories with consent, during health and safety inspections or if there is a clear immediate threat to an occupants safety. “When there are health and safety inspections, we try to provide at least 24 hours notice, maybe a little
bit longer,” said Dean Kennedy, director of Housing and Residence Life. University maintenance staff may also enter private dorm residences without express permission in extreme cases. “If there is an emergency maintenance issue, we will key the door and take care of the situation, whether it is water, electric, whatever it may be,” Kennedy said.
Fourth amendment
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” History: Created to prevent unwarranted searches by government in response to British search and seizure policies.
Exclusionary Rule: States that prosecutors may not use any evidence in court obtained when Fourth Amendment is violated.
Graphic Design Jovi Ramirez/THE ARBITER
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Arts & Entertainment
The number of games bowled has dropped 50 percent from 2011, and Fiscal Year 2014 is projected to have a $30,000 loss in revenue. These figures have prompted the discussion of repurposing the Game Center, located in the Student Union Building (SUB). Brent Delong, director of the Student Union, explained the Game Center is going to continue to lose revenue for the SUB and something needs to be done about it. “In short, we’re kind of at a point with the Game Center where we need to make the decision to subsidize the space,” Delong said. “The other option is to look at repurposing the space.” The goal is not to entirely rid the SUB of the Game Center, but rather to reintegrate some aspects of the center in different areas of the SUB. Travis Browndyke, a freshman marketing major and his roommate Kailyn Duncan, a freshman construction management major, both live on campus. They would not have any other place nearby to play pool—as neither of them are 21 yet and can’t get into bars. “I shoot pool every day,” Browndyke said. Neither Browndyke nor Duncan felt that the center gained much revenue for the SUB. “I’d be bummed if the Game Center were to be repurposed,” Browndyke said. The center was added in 1967, when the SUB was originally designed. “When buildings were built in the ‘60s and ‘70s they were built with thin space,” Delong said. “Spaces built with very specific purposes.” This means each space is very clearly defined and in a very linear format, much like the SUB. The difficulty is it doesn’t leave room for these spaces to overlap and interact with each other, therefore it isn’t very efficient. Factors such as street parking availability (or lack thereof) and the rise of personal gaming devices have contributed to the loss in usage. Also in 2012 the kinesiology department stopped offering bowling as a class. Billiards was also going to disappear as a class, but a donor stepped in and paid for a private instructor for billiards classes to continue. “A national trend, a lot of game center spaces are coming out; they’re expen-
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Sports
sive to maintain,” Delong said. “They take up a lot of space.” If the area was to be repurposed, the main idea currently is to put the Admissions Office in the Game Center’s current location. Finding the Admissions Office in the center of campus can be tedious and tiresome for prospective students and their families who are unfamiliar with campus. “It’s great that perspective students and parents are having to come all the way through the building (the SUB), but it’s also bad that they are having to go all the way through the building,” Delong said. “They don’t find it (admissions) efficiently and often it’s a frustrating thing.” With the area being about 13,000 sq. feet, a reconstruction project would take approximately six to nine months. “The whole project would probably take 18 months from start design to finish,” Delong said. If reconstruction were to happen, the Bookstore will not be effected, but the Bronco express mail area may be repurposed somewhere else in the building. The goal is to create integrative recreation, a space where you can do more than one thing. “It’s not eliminating recreation, it’s just rethinking how we deliver recreation,” Delong said. The bowling alley will probably not be reintegrated as it is cumbersomely large and the most expensive to maintain. Job positions would be lost, but no one would lose their current jobs, Delong assured. Game Center employees will be reintegrated into other places in the SUB. Amy McGrath, a senior criminal justice major, doesn’t use the Game Center now, but still feels a sentimental value for it. “I don’t think they should get rid of it because I remember as a kid it was fun to go there and visit there,” McGrath said.
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