FRONT PAGE

Power Outage Cripples Campus
Nicole Ford | Editor-In-Chief

When the campus was plunged into darkness late last week, Dr. Peter Fields carried on with what he does best – teaching.
Around 9 a.m. last Thursday morning, a contractor working outside the Central Plant accidentally drilled into a main power line, cutting off power to the entire campus, Utilities Manager Dean Price said. The worker escaped with second-degree burns and was back at work later that day.
Fields was taking roll for an English research class in the Liberal Arts building when the lights went out. As the emergency lighting came up, he led his class outside and proceeded to find a spot in the shade where those who wanted to continue with class could.
“In my total geekdom, I thought all 20 students who were there would want to come with me and talk about how to make an argument (in their papers),” Fields said.
Four of Fields’ students remained to discuss how to structure their papers and get “one-on-one” time with their professor. The miniature class gathered on a brick and concrete handicap ramp leading into the Liberal Arts building – a far cry from their normal computer lab.
“I understand that some students have health problems and can’t be out in the heat for any length of time – they need to be in a building or in their air-conditioned cars, and I encouraged them to go home,” Fields said. “It was an opportunity for me to answer the questions they had about their papers.”
Fields, who has been at MSU for four years, worked with the students for the entire one hour and 20 minutes the class would have normally taken.
“This was the biggest crisis of my time at MSU, and it was interesting to see how things kept going,” Fields said. “My reaction was to keep teaching as long as I had students. If I was on a sinking ship, I would teach until it went down.”
 While Fields and a handful of his students carried on with their class, many others found their normal daily routine interrupted. All buildings on campus were evacuated and smoke was reported in four buildings, President Jesse Rogers said.
Freshman Austin Kelley was in his room in Pierce Hall when the call came to evacuate the dorms.
“I was in my room and heard the alarm go off, but I went back to sleep,” freshman Austin Kelley, a resident of Pierce Hall, said. “Around 9:30, they started banging on doors and telling us to get out. I left my toothbrush in the room and I got morning breath.”
Roy Pierce, who works in Housing, said the dorms were emptied for student safety.
“It’s dark in there, and students could fall down the stairs or bump into things,” Pierce said. “It’s a hot day, and with the power off, it’s going to get hot in there pretty fast.”
Students who couldn’t leave campus were shuffled to the Sunwatcher clubhouse and given a free sandwich lunch in Sunwatcher Plaza. Only resident assistants were allowed into the dorms to pick up vital materials, such as medicine, for students.
“We had a problem with some students going into their dorms to get stuff and staying up there,” Sophia Rodriguez, director of student development, said.
Freshman Chase Brock, a Pierce Hall resident, said he and some dorm mates “snuck by, faked ‘em out, and run in there” to get their stuff. Brock and his friends later went to the Sunwatcher clubhouse.
The dorms were open again by 3 p.m. Thursday, though the rest of the campus was still closed. A cook-out dinner was served to residents with meal plans in Sunwatcher Plaza.
Classes resumed as normal on Friday, though there were reports that the air conditioning in some buildings wasn’t functioning properly.


Hurricane Rita evacuees find Shelter at Ligon Coliseum
Ashley Miller | Managing Editor

The memory of Hurricane Katrina was still fresh when Rita came along.
Most people left their homes on the Gulf Coast as soon as landfall seemed imminent.
About 3 million people jammed highways out of Houston, Beaumont, Texas, and Lake Charles, La. Gas stations closed their doors when harried evacuees drained their fuel supplies.
Before Rita even hit, every hotel in Dallas and Wichita Falls was booked. Those who did not make arrangements in time or could not afford a hotel streamed into shelters all over the state.
Dr. Howard Farrell, vice president of University Advancement and Student Affairs, and MSU Police Chief Michael Hagy attended a meeting with the city. Farrell thought D.L. Ligon Coliseum would be a good place for a shelter, and Hagy went with him to provide logistics and information on security.
Shelters have to be able to provide adequate facilities, Hagy said, and the coliseum has quick access to showers and food. Once MSU offered up the space and got it set up, the American Red Cross took over operation. A bus arrived over the weekend carrying a group from Beaumont.
Samata Mitchell was born in Beaumont, and after a few years in California moved back. She has lived there for about 20 years. The bus ride to Wichita Falls took about 18 hours because traffic was bumper to bumper all the way, she said.
Her house was flooded, but she said she will probably rebuild if she doesn’t decide to stay in Wichita Falls.
“The stay here is so pleasant. I don’t want to leave right now,” she said, laughing. “To me it’s like a vacation – the people here has been so beautiful. It’s like a home away from home.”
Her daughter, who is staying at the shelter as well, is four months pregnant, and plans to stay here.
“She’s gonna make it her home. Her and her fiancé – he’s gonna be looking for a job.”
Mitchell said that she’s going to return to Beaumont, but once her grandchild is born she will probably come back.
“I love it here. To me it’s like another side of the world,” she said. “It’s amazing the people who take time to volunteer for people like us.”
The best part of the whole thing, Mitchell said, is getting to know the other evacuees, many of whom are also from Beaumont.
“It’s so amazing. We’re all from the same town and we never knew each other until tragedy hit. We want to stay in touch, though.”
Another evacuee, S. Jarreau Sr., came with his wife on the bus to Wichita Falls.
“It took all night. I thought for a while that they moved this place – or the bus driver didn’t know where he was going.”
Jarreau said he doesn’t know how his house weathered Rita, but from news reports on television he’s gathered that his area wasn’t as damaged as others.
“Hopefully,” he said. “I don’t have flood insurance.”
Right now, his biggest worry is his wife’s family. While his children and relatives are all accounted for, they haven’t heard from her side. He has been trying to use the Internet sites for evacuees to find them, but has had no luck yet.
Of Wichita Falls, Jarreau had only good things to say.
“It’s a lovely place. It’s my first time here and it’s really nice country,” he said. “The shelter’s like a five-star hotel. Running water and everything.”
He said he expects to be in town another few days, but if the accommodations are as nice as they are at MSU, he doesn’t mind.
Julie ----, however, is ready to go home. She was born in New Orleans and raised in Beaumont, where she left her boyfriend.
“I want to go home this week,” she said, teary-eyed. “I want to see my boyfriend. He refused to leave.”
After spending the last few months in Fort Worth, --- had just gone back to Beaumont before Rita hit.
“I got to spend some time with my boyfriend and then the city was ordering everyone to leave,” she said.
Even though she can’t wait to leave, though, she said she’s glad she came to Wichita Falls.
“There wouldn’t have been a better place to come,” she said. “If anything happens in the future, I will know exactly where to go.”