Town & Gown committee formally dissolved See page 3
College works to save sea turtle eggs See page 19
Men’s soccer wins in overtime See page 28
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011 Volume 138, Issue 8
Perkins evacuated after reported threat University police charge Newark resident with two counts terroristic threatening BY TOM LEHMAN Managing News Editor
Cosby reflects, jokes with sold-out crowd
See page 18
Senior Brandon Granados could tell something was amiss in the Perkins Students Center last week. Shortly before the Capoeira Club began practicing on Oct. 10, the group’s president noticed several police officers stationed at the building’s entrance and exits. As the group, which practices Afro-Brazilian dance and martial arts, prepared to wrap up the meeting, Granados and the club members were told by officers that the group needed to leave the building earlier than expected. “I went up to one of the officers and asked him why we were getting kicked out,” Granados said. “He said, ‘You’ll find out soon enough’ and that it was for our own safety.” The evacuation orders came after a Newark resident, 51-yearold Wendell Fisher, allegedly made terroristic threats regarding students inside the student center, according to University police Chief Patrick Ogden. Ogden would not comment on the nature of the threat, but said
Fisher had threatened to harm the building’s occupants, prompting increased police presence at the location and an early closure of the student center. “At 9 o’clock we made an assessment and decided to close the building early,” Ogden said. He said Fisher was arrested Friday on two counts of terroristic threatening. The Newark resident made the calls from two different locations within the city. Ogden said surveillance footage helped police identify the suspect, whose activity was captured by one of the cameras. Ogden said Fisher, who was formerly incarcerated, was in violation of the terms of his parole at the time of last week’s incident. Investigators discovered the suspect had a connection to the student center, but could not release further details. University police officers initially arrived at the scene late in the afternoon after Perkins employees reported receiving threatening phone calls. After securing the building’s
See THREAT page 13
Freshman students discover mold growth in Rodney BY NORA KELLY Executive Editor
When freshman Beatrice Waesche’s mother moved her into her new Rodney E dorm at the beginning of the semester, she noticed a dirty, mold-like substance growing on the vents of the room’s air conditioning unit. Wary, she told her daughter to contact someone about the problem immediately. But Waesche soon forgot her mother’s advice, and it was only until her floormates noticed mold growing in their own rooms—and began to
1 News
feel sick—that she inspected her own. After finding white dots on her air conditioning vents, she reported the case to her resident assistant and quickly was evacuated from the room Thursday. “I packed as if I was going on vacation from Rodney,” said Waesche, who moved into temporary housing in Smyth Hall that day with a towel, shower caddy and three outfits in tow. Waesche’s room was one of 86 affected by mold and excess humidity within the Rodney Complex on West
14 Editorial
15 Opinion
Campus in the last week. Forty-three of these rooms, located in the Rodney A, C and E buildings, have since been cleaned, according to Mike Gladle, the director of the university’s department of environmental health and safety, which has spearheaded the cleaning efforts. This is the second time this semester that mold has been discovered in student residence halls. Mold has been found in 55 of the 150 rooms in the Ray Street Complex since late September, and students
See MOLD page 12
17 Mosaic
Mold has been found in 86 rooms within the Rodney Complex.
20 Off The Record
27 Classifieds
28 Sports
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