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The Michigan Daily-Wednesday,;January 6, 1982-P
Therapy prog
move to Flint
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Doily Photo by JEFF SCHRIER
ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT CHAIRMAN Prof. Frank Stafford sits in his temporary office in Old St. Joseph's
Hospital, 300 North Ingall. The economics department will be located in the hospital until a new permanent home can be
found for it. The Economimcs Building was gutted by fire on Christmas Eve.
gEconomic students, faculty
dig out after holiday blaze
(Continued from Page 1)
protect the rest of the city, and we
beefed up personnel at other stations."
4Mallory described five specific dif-
ficulties which hampered the
firefighting attempt:
-The Economics'Building was made
almost completely of wood, from
basement to attic;
* Series of protruding cornices, or heavy
wooden trim, surrounded the roof said
Mallory. "They started falling, so you
couldn't get firemen right up to the
building" ;
*Layers of a substance similar to lin-
seed oil, highly combustible, had repor-
tedly been spread into the wooden
floors in past years to keep them from
squeaking;
" there were three ceilings over each
story, a main one plus two "drop"
ceilings, which further fed the flames;
" the heat detector, which alerted the
fire department, was located at the
building's far east end, a significant
distance from the apparent origin of the
blaze. ."By the time the heat traveled to
th;t end," Mallory explained, "the fire
got a good start in the center."
THE PRIMARY difficulty which
Mallory and other fire officials
described, was the tack of a "fire sup-
pression" (sprinkler) system. While
new University structures were equip-
ped with such units, older ones - such
as the Economics Building - were not.
Mallory said he believes a sprinkler
system could have saved the building,
but added that the cost involved to in-
stal one was probably prohibitive. "It's
expensive to put a sprinkler system in a
building, and that's probably whqat
prevented it (the Economics Building)
from having one. It's just a cost fac-
tgor," Mallory said.
"If there was a sprinkler system,
we'd still have a building," said
University Fire Marshal Downing.
"Ideally, we'd like to have every
building equipped with such a system,"
he added.
Although a sprinkler system was
needed to save the structure, Downing
continued, the existing fire detection
and prevention equipment was suf-
ficient to protect "life safety." He
described as "adequate" the fire alarm
system, which consisted of pull stations
scattered throughout and around the
--building, as well as fire extinguishers
and the heat detector.
"THE BUILDING was adequately
protected for life safety," Downing
concluded.
N Neither the city nor the state
regularly inspects University class
buildings, which leaves this task to Fire
SMarshal Downing and the University's
insurance company.
Michigan's fire marshal has no in-
spectioA record of the Economics
Building, according to Lt. Richard
Nelson, director of the State Facilities
Unit of the fire marshal's office. The
state office is unable to inspect each
building because of a lack of personnel,
Nelson said, and does so only upon
request. Before 1972, he added, the
University was autonomous in this
respect and never came into contact
with the state government.
LAST SEPTEMBER, the entire
campus, including the Economics
Building, was inspected by the Univer-
sity's insurance company, Industrial
Risk Insurers. The inspection, one of
two held each year, involved "six
weeks of tiresome walking," according
to Downing, who accompanied insuran-
ce agents. "It was a very consuming in-
spectjon," which was designed to pin-
point fire hazards in campus buildings
and propose remedies for them,
Downing said.
Downing said he didn't recall what
specific suggestions were made about
the Economics Building, during the
tour, since it was one of nearly 200
structures that were assessed.
Contacted yesterday at his Detroit of-
fice, IRI Engineer-in-Charge Roger
Porte said the post-inspection report
recommended sprinklers throughout
the Economics Building. The report,
however, was still being published
when the fire occurred, and was ap-,
parently not yet submitted to Univer-
sity officials.
"THEY MAY have put that recom-
mendation in the September inspection
report," said William Ryan, the
University's Insurance and Risk Office
manager. "We seethe complete reports
only when they arrive here, after three
or four months.".
Regardless, the University is fully in-
sured for the building's damage.
In addition to the published recom-
mendation, insurance agents hold post-
inspection "Exit Conferences" with
University officials to discuss "urgent
matters," Ryan said. Inspector David
VanCort was present at the September
conference, he added. "But there was
no reference to the Economics
Building. Any serious recommen-
dations would have been made at that
time."
"WE'RE NOT a state agency," Porte
added from his IRI office, so the
University is not obligated to follow its
recommendations. Even if the
Economics Building proposal arrived
before the building burned, it could
have been dismissed as unworkable.
And, according to Ryan, that may well
have happened.
"Sprinkler projects are fairly expen-
sive," he said, "especially with older
buildings. We review the recommen-
dations and develop priorities on the
work that needs to be done."
Since the Christmas Eve blaze, a
debate has begun around the University
about whether the Economics Building
should be "saved"-keeping the stan-
ding exterior walls up and rebuilding
from within-or whether it should be
totally demolished and rebuilt "from
scratch." There is vocal sentiment
among many Economics Department
faculty members to retain the shell,
which has graced the Diag for 125
years.
LAST WEEK, University officials
hired DarVas, a local "consulting struc-
tural engineer" and architecture
professor, to assess the condition of the
outside walls.
(Continued from Page 1)
review since last May when Medic al
School Dean John Gronvall recommen-
ded that it be discontinued. Gronvall's
recommendation was the result of a
review of the program last winter and
statements from Darnell that the
program either be improved or
eliminated. Darnell warned that the
academic quality of the program had
deteriorated to a point where future
graduates would have trouble pasing
state licensing examinations.
The proposal, scheduled to bepresen-
ted to the Regents at this month's
meeting, requires the Flint campus to
maintain the program at least until
1986. This maintenance involves major
enhancements including the addition of
11 new courses and two to three new
faculty members, Darnell said.
Unless the facilities are updated,.
Darnell said, graduating seniors will
not be adequately prepared to pass
state physical therapy licensing
examinations in the coming years.
THE PROPOSAL also calls for the
Flint campus to look into the
possibilities of increasing the
program's enrollment and expanding
its educational scope to include a basic
masters degree program. The current
program only offers a bachelor of
science degree.r
Basic science courses would be added
769-1300
Before 6PM M-F
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..they didn't make
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to the program to providef
ted increase in students.
Flint-area hospitals and
munity foundations have p
ts to help meet the costs
sition and expansion, Nels
Ann Arbor campus will
some transitional funds.
SEVERAL hospitals
facilities in the Flint ar
provide the use of theirf
personnel to aid in the teac
of the courses, he said..
Nelson added that the nu
students attracted to theF
by the new program wou
generate enough extra rev
the program self-supportin
The mnove to Flint wout
program, the University
and the state, accordi
Necessary improvements
A0O
c)F(w
%4C'
I
i o~UA I6u
ram may
campus
for the expec- possible if the program were to ren in
at the Ann Arbor campus, because of
d other com- the substantial costs involved, he ad-
pledged gran- ded.
of the trap- THE FLINT community is extremity
son said. The recepti-ve to the proposal and hlis
also provide already expressed its support ajd
desire to help the program, Frye said.
and clinical The number of trained and qualified
ea will also physical therapists would. be main-
facilities and tamed, and possibly increased as -a
ching of some result of the move, which would redice
the current critical need for therap s
umber of new in the state, Frye said.
Flint campus The relocation would also h
ild eventually strengthen relations between the two
enue to make campuses, he noted.
eng Physical therapists ground the state
Id benefit the are also happy with the proposal, a -
as a whole, cording to Dale Fitch, president of the
ng to Frye. Michigan Physical. Therapist's
Wnuld not h Association.
,'' ,
'S
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CHICAGO PETE
and
GIP ROBERTS
and the Detroiters
Hosted by the Famous Coachman
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January 6, 8 PM-$2 Cover
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