When the fire alarm sounded at 10 p.m. on Jan. 29 inCockrell-McIntosh Hall, most residents assumed it was theirsemester drill. When sophomore residents Emily Disque and SarahHill heard water gushing into their room, they knew otherwise.
A non-resident of Cockrell-McIntosh, whose name is unavailable,hit a sprinkler with a football on the fourth floor of theresidence hall.
Water sprayed from the single sprinkler into the hallway andseeped into Disque and Hall’s room until a hall staff memberdiscovered the problem and turned off the valve.
The residence hall suffered no “long-term structuraldamage,” said Doug Hallenbeck, director of Residence Life andStudent Housing. Disque and Hill said they have a combined total ofapproximately $1,450 in personal property damage.
“Our room got it the worst by far,” Disque said.
The damaged belongings included their shoes, iron, ironingboard, some paperwork and clothes, such as Disque’s formaldress she planned to wear to Pi Kappa Alpha’s Victory thatweekend. The dress was destroyed.
“At least our computers weren’t ruined,” Hillsaid.
The housing contract states that SMU is not responsible forpersonal property damage. Disque and Hill both have insurancepolicies with $500 deductibles, meaning they will have to pay forthe majority of the damage.
Hill expressed concern that her insurance rates will go up eventhough the incident was not her fault.
“We did nothing to bring this on ourselves,” shesaid.
Hill said that hall director Nick Shrader could not legallyidentify the person responsible, but to have that person pay forthe damages, the women would have to file their own suit againsthim.
“As of right now, we can’t even find out hisname,” Disque said.
Disque and Hill find little comfort in the responses they havegotten from the hall staff and Shrader, who also declined tocomment or provide information to 0.
Regarding the damage to the building, Hallenbeck said that ifthey find the person responsible, he would have to go through thejudicial process.
“We’ll try to get the person who damaged it to payit,” he said.
Disque and Hill weren’t the only ones put out by theincident. All residents were evacuated from the building and notallowed back into the hall for about two hours.
Disque and Hill were instructed to stay with friends overnight.They returned to their room the next day.
When they returned, they discovered a poster was ripped off ofthe wall and thrown in the trashcan.
A trash sack full of wet and ruined belongings still lay onfloor of their study room after being moved from their bedroom.
Most of their furniture was also moved to the study room. Theysaid they could barely walk around it.
A dehumidifier and fans hummed loudly in their room as well asin the hall.
Fumes from the fire retardant and removed moldings gave Disqueand her suitemates sore throats, Disque said.
Her suitemates are still not feeling well, and Disque becamesick with strep throat, Hill said.
Disque asked to move to a different residence hall but was toldall of the rooms were full, although she was eventually given acard to get into Shuttles to stay. The card did not work.
She and Hill stayed with friends until Feb. 1. Hill stayed in ahotel for one night that weekend, costing her another $70.
“We’re still paying to live here, and wecouldn’t stay here,” Hill said.
Both students said they were frustrated with the experience.They said no one from the staff approached them until after theirparents called and complained.
“The school hasn’t taken the initiative to see thatthe students were taken care of,” Hill said. She likened SMUto a business that should keep its customers happy.
“They cared more about the building,” Disquesaid.
