No Injuries in Ceiling Collapse

Published 1-28-09
http://www.doaneline.com/no-injuries-in-ceiling-collapse-1.1316301

Two pillars collapsed on the east side of the Chab Weyers and Hixson Lied Art and Education Building at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.


According to an e-mail sent out by Russ Hewitt, director of campus safety, no one was in the area, and there were no reported injuries. There is no known cause as of yet, and the west doors have been shut off for the time being.

Freshman Allison Van Driel was in the room next to the collapse.

“I was in my philosophy class and all of a sudden we heard a big boom and all rushed to see what had happened,” Van Driel said. “We thought that the chandelier had fallen, but it was two of the beams.”

Another student, freshman Ben Hinrichs, was also in the building but he said it didn’t disrupt his class.

“I just thought somebody tipped over something above us,” Hinrichs said. “ It was muffled, but it was really loud. My professor was in mid sentence when it happened, but he didn’t skip a beat.”

Some students didn’t have first-hand experience with the collapse, but they soon heard about it.

Sophomore Beth Hein heard about the incident from one of her professors.

“I heard about it from Betty Levitov, who talked about it in class,” Hein said. “When I first found out about it, I laughed. But then I thought it was the chandelier that had fallen, and I was sad.”

This incident also caused some students, like Hein, to feel apprehensive about future remodeling plans.

“It makes me wonder how the Frees (Hall) renovation is going to turn out,” Hein said. “Something else might collapse.”

Hinrichs, though, said his main concern was what could have happened.

“I’m not too worried about buildings falling apart,” Hinrichs said. “But honestly, I could foresee them having to close the building for a while to evaluate everything. I mean, if someone had gotten hit, they would be dead.”