DOW HOUSE EVACUATED

Senior Cail Daley was working on his English homework in his room late Thursday night when the abrupt sound of a fire alarm pierced the air. Moments later, he stepped out into the cold with his dormmates as fire trucks pulled up by Dow House.But this was no routine fire drill. A failure with the pipes in Dow House led the fire alarm to ring, causing residents to be evacuated out of the dorm to Browning House. They stayed out of the dorm from after 10 PM to around midnight, when campus safety informed them that they were allowed back into Dow. Hot water was not available in Dow until the next morning.Senior Leo Lien attributed the issue to old facilities and winter weather conditions. “The pipes in the basement began to leak, probably due to the cold weather freezing the water and causing the pipes to burst. I think it was also the result of old pipes being worn out, which caused gas to leak out and set off the fire alarm,” Lien said.Upper Nick Diao said that the incident was not too unexpected. “It wasn't that big of a deal because Dow House is run down and these things tend to happen,” he said.Daley agreed, highlighting issues with pipes that have become common in many campus residences. “For a couple days this winter, the pipes have been acting up, and people wake up in the morning to find no hot water for their morning showers, so it wasn't exactly a new phenomenon,” he said.Even now, the problem of hot water has not yet been fully resolved. “If two were to shower at the same time, neither would get hot water, but instead relatively warm or cool water,” Lien said. “This wasn't a problem last year, so the facilities are taking care of it.”A few Dow residents raised the question of inequities between dorms. Some believed that some dorms that have recently been renovated have better and more modern facilities than older ones.Lien said that a basic standard of living quality should be guaranteed for all students. “I think inequities between dorms is an issue that cannot be solved, because it’s a much greater issue than working pipes,” he said. “Over time, I see less of a problem in this disparity gap, but good living quarters is still significant in that there should be minimal stress over what should be small problems, such as having hot water for a shower.”Diao also emphasized the importance of periodically updating facilities. “Renovations should exist to ensure such problems that result from outdated or inadequate facilities do not further impact any more boarding students.”Dow Dorm Head Tom Simpson did not comment for this report.