FIRST PLACE AWARD WINNERS
FROM THE
NEW YORK PRESS ASSOCIATION & AMERICAN SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION
Pace Chronicle The
VOLUME IV, ISSUE XIII
PACE UNIVERSITY, PLEASANTVILLE/BRIARCLIFF MANOR, NY
WWW.PACECHRONICLE.COM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015
Gas Leak Relocates Hundreds Of Students Rooms Still Lack Heat
EMILY WOLFRUM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CARLOS VILLAMAYOR MANAGING EDITOR All displaced students have returned to their rooms following an evacuation of the Pleasantville residence halls last week. The evacuation was the result of a gas leak, which caused all heating to be turned off in North and Martin Halls and the townhouses, as well as Kessel Student Center and Goldstein Fitness Center, among other buildings. Townhouse residents were able to return by 4:30 p.m. Friday, while North Hall and Martin Hall reopened at 5:30 and 8:00 p.m. respectively. During the evacuation period, Pace hired two additional contractors, as per an e-mail alert midday Thursday. New boilers were said to ship from Virginia. Residents in the townhouses
have expressed a lack of heat upon returning to their buildings. Parents and relatives of students took to the Pace University Westchester Family Association (PUWFA) Facebook group. “My daughter lives in the townhouses and moved back in on Saturday to a very cold house,” wrote Nancy Bruns on Sunday evening. “She made multiple attempts to get in touch with her RD...This morning, it was no better, so I [called] security...Nothing has changed.” Any students experiencing a lack of heat in their rooms are encouraged to contact Director of Residence Life Alerie Tirsch at atirsch@pace.edu. Pleasantville residents were notified of the evacuation at 6:21 p.m. on Wed., Feb. 18 via e-mail, and were told they would have to leave their respective rooms by 10 p.m. Students with the ability to go home were encouraged to do
EVACUATION
STUDENTS SPENT AT LEAST
42.5
HOURS
7
BUILDINGS
WERE SHUT
EVACUATED FROM DOWN, INCLUDING THEIR HALLS
I
N THIS
ISSUE
so, while others were able to stay with Briarcliff residents or on a cot in Willcox Gym. Classes were to continue Thursday as most academic buildings were unaffected. North Hall resident and Brooklyn native Alexa Lauro said that she received the e-mail notification while in her night class. With a 9:00 a.m. class the following morning, Lauro opted to stay in a hotel with friends from California. “It was very stressful because I was in class [when they sent out the alert],” Lauro said. “My professor didn’t know anything about what was going on, so when I told him I had to leave, he said no. I told him we were being evacuated and I had to go pack, so I just left.” According to Lauro, many other students stayed in hotels during the evacuation. “Who wants to sleep on a cot in Willcox?” she said.
3
DORMS
10
BY THE
NUMBERS
STUDENTS
SLEPT ON COTS
WILLCOX GYM
IN THE
She added that there has been talk among students and parents regarding compensation for hotel accommodations. So far, Pace has not responded to these requests. Lauro remained at the hotel for one night before going home for the weekend. Many other students also went home, unaware of when the residence halls would be reopened. “[Residential staff] told us to pay attention to our e-mails, and didn’t give us anything else to go by in terms of when we could go back,” Martin Hall resident and Connecticut native Holly Berlandy said. “It was handled very poorly.” Berlandy received the notification while on a train headed back from her internship in New York City. She stayed with friends Wednesday and Thursday before returning home Friday. Residential Life staff had Pleasantville students check out
75%
of their buildings and notify an RA of where they would be spending the night. Just 10 students stayed in Willcox Wednesday evening, prompting residential life to place students in Briarcliff for the following evening. Pleasantville residents were permitted to return to their rooms between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on Thursday to retrieve any other items. However, students offered that common hour would have been a more convenient window. “They gave us a really limited window to go back to our dorm to retrieve more stuff,” North Hall resident Amelia Gilmer said. “I had class during the two hour window they provided, so I was pretty lucky I was able to get more clothes.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 “GAS LEAK”
AROUND 100 OF
STUDENTS
STUDENTS
STAYED WITH
WENT HOME OR
FRIENDS ON
OFF-CAMPUS
BRIARCLIFF
PUMA CONFERENCE
ISLAMAPHOBIA
Pace University Marketing Association (PUMA) hosted a sports media conference this past week in Butcher Suite.
One writer explores her own religion after the murders of three Muslim-American students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
FEATURE, Page 4
Photo from newyork.cbslocal.com
Opinion, Page 7
MEN’S LACROSSE STARTS SEASON SPORTS, Page 12
Pace’s Men’s Lacrosse team has officially begun their season, losing to Mercy College 13-12 in the first game.