Residents may have to pay for vandalism

Residents of a floor which vandals sprayed with fire-retardant dust this weekend may be ordered to pay approximately $2000 for damages and clean-up if the culprits are not found. The vandals covered the floors, walls and ceilings of the 23rd floor of High Rise East with dust from four hall fire extinguishers early Sunday morning. They caused damage which a Residential Maintenance official estimated at between $800 and $1000. College senior Evan Berman, the floor's resident advisor, informed students on the floor in a letter that they might be told they have to foot the bill for the damages and labor costs for cleaning if no suspects are found. Residents said yesterday that they awoke around 4:00 a.m. Sunday to a yellow haze as firefighters beat nightsticks against their doors. Several said they thought the building was on fire. Both residents and Residential Living officials said they did not know who vandalized the floor. The residue of yellow dust not only coated the hallways but entered the rooms through a crack underneath the door both immediately after the incident and later that morning as Physical Plant workers cleared the dust, residents said. "When they cleaned up the next morning, the stuff came zooming under the crack," College junior Ann Gallaher said. "I put towels in the door." Several students said they mopped, dusted and vacuumed their suites, and two students had to throw away their towels and toothbrushes. Residents said Sunday was not the first time their floor was sprayed by fire extinguisher dust. They said a similar but less severe incident occurred earlier in the week, but they did not report it to Residential Living. The debris also entered the floors' smoke detectors, rendering them useless until they are cleaned, Residential Maintenance Director Lynn Horner said yesterday. While the detectors are out of service, University Police will monitor the floor to make sure no fires occur, Horner said.

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