Emergency crews putting vacant KU dorms to use — while there’s still time; research questions funding model of collegiate athletics

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical crews conduct a training exercise at a vacant McCollum hall on Sept. 14, 2015.

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical responders have used Kansas University residence halls for summertime training drills before, but not like this. Today at McCollum Hall, there’s a slew of fire engines and other vehicles, and crews are dragging hoses inside the building — spraying real water — and practicing forced entries into doors — using actual force.

“That’s the advantage,” said Shaun Coffey, division chief of training for the fire department. “If we do any damage, it doesn’t really matter. When they’re occupied we have to be a little more careful.”

Fire-medical crews will continue high-rise search and rescue and fire attack training Tuesday and Wednesday at McCollum, Coffey said. They’ve recently used the vacant Stouffer Place apartment buildings for training, too, and expect to be back for more training at McCollum in a few weeks.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office also used Stouffer Place for some training this month and posted this story on its Facebook page:

Posted by Douglas County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, September 2, 2015

“We’re trying to take advantage of it while we can,” Coffey said.

The Stouffer Place buildings are scheduled to be razed this fall, and McCollum is set for demolition Nov. 25. But even with the wrecking ball looming, the fire crews can’t go completely realistic. I did ask Coffey if they were using real fire and he said no — a machine is simulating the smoke, and the stand-in for actual flames is a big orange cone.

Still, I think it’s safe to say even a smoke machine and a cone are more realistic than what firefighters have usually encountered through the years when called to McCollum, aka the false alarm capital of the world — OK maybe not the world, but definitely a contender for the title in this town. Ten floors and three wings, full of college students.

In all seriousness, though, a real fire in an occupied residence hall would be a very scary situation. It is Campus Fire Safety Month, and Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical provides this link with lots of safety tips for fire prevention and fire escape plans for college living.

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Footnotes

• Research questions financial stability of college athletics: As universities quest for “front door” sports programs, the current funding model has become unstable for many of them, argues a monograph co-authored by Jordan Bass, KU assistant professor of health, sport and exercise sciences; Claire Schaeperkoetter, KU doctoral student; and Kyle Bunds of North Carolina State University. A press release sent out today by KU News doesn’t specifically mention anything about KU athletics, but the authors appear to offer a pretty deep and academic look at a number of other schools and the massive, competitive and complicated machine that is collegiate athletics today. A snip from KU News:

While athletic teams strive to keep
pace with their competitors on the
field of play, that idea of “keeping
up with the Joneses” has crept into
nearly every aspect of intercollegiate
athletics and, the authors point out,
into the corporatization of
universities. The authors examine
athletic funding through the lens of
economic and social theory,
illustrating how the desire to win has
led to an ever-expanding funding of
new facilities, buildings, capital
campaigns, attempts to attract
boosters, increased spending on
recruiting and countless other aspects
of higher education.

• KU 150 history exhibit now open: I know all of you read this year’s KU edition in full (wink, wink), so this is just a reminder. In honor of KU’s sesquicentennial anniversary, an exhibit offering a rare glimpse into the student experience of yesteryear has just opened at Spencer Research Library. A KU 150 history exhibit at the Watson Library is opening Thursday.

• Red flags for sexual assault awareness: KU students, faculty and staff are planting them today on the Watson Library lawn. According to this University Daily Kansan article, it’s sexual assault awareness week at KU, and more than 8,000 flags are being planted as part of the national Red Flag Campaign against domestic and interpersonal violence.

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Contact me

By email at sshepherd@ljworld.com, by phone at 832-7187 or on Twitter @saramarieshep.