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MSU Fire Marshal concerned with older residence halls, more electronic use

Megan Cochrane
November 12, 2014

STUDENTS: Tyler Matteson, psychology sophomore “Yeah. Just one.” “I don’t think so. Mine is relatively new. I don’t use all of them (plugged in appliances) at the same time.” “I don’t really think about it much.” Jillian Craighead, theatre freshman "I do use extention cords and power strips! I use them because (there are) not enough plugs around the dorm room to plug everything in. And some plugs are not 3prong plug ports. Besides, I heard using power strips (is) safer than using a whole bunch of extension cords." "The number I use, I don't think it's a fire hazard. I mean of course it is, but I don't have a ridiculous amount where I feel like it's going to catch on fire. Besides, I turn off my power strip when I'm not using it. And I unplug my extention cords when necessary."  Theatre and music composition senior, Mark Schenfisch "Yes I do. We have a lot of things that need plugged in, lights, power cords, and my piano. Microwave, fridge, etc. My bed is lofted, too, so I use an extension cord to get power to my phone at night. I would not say it's a fire hazard. There's only one daisy chain and that's to get up to my bed. Mythbusters did a thing about extension cords - well it was actually about Christmas tree lights, but talked about extension cords too - and while they said you still shouldn't be ridiculous about daisy chaining extension cords and power strips, if I remember correctly the only thing that was truly a danger were short circuits. So I'm not particularly concerned about any precautions, though if I were to take them, I think it'd probably be looking for short circuits, but the Internet seems to suggest circuit breakers should take care of that anyway, unless the short is in the wall." Name: Denis Zietlow Title: MSU Fire Marshal MSU PD Contact: 517-432—1587 What would you say are the most prevalent type of fire-hazard or cause of residence hall fires? Don’t get a lot of calls on it. Often times small issues are handled by staff. Gen guidelines – extension cords should be hardwired or plugged into an outlet. Safety strip have circuit breakers – UL approved. Shouldn’t piggy back strips together. Older dorms are “Not set up to handle all of the electronic stuff that people have in their rooms.” Want students to use power strips that have shut offs on them. Surge protectors. We don’t like to see people using lamp cord type extension cords. They’re not safe. Candles are not allowed – housing contract prohibits things like candles and hot plates and such. We don’t like to see any type of cooking appliance except for microwave. Dorm staff usually works to make sure that type of things doesn’t happen. One thing we’ve done as we renovate buildings is put automatic sprinklers in. Huge life safety feature. As we renovate the buildings, we try to get. Sprinkler heads considered to be a key component of a safe building. Smoking in rooms – sometimes disable smoke detectors. Not safe thing to do and not supposed to do that. Do not disable smoke detectors or cover them. Unsafe thing to do. Often times do not reconnect them. Newer systems report back to PD if an issue with detector is found. No open flames in the rooms and make sure curling irons are unplugged or against anything that can catch fire. Even unplug hair dryers. Anything can produce heat, unplug when done with it. “We’ve had a very good fire safe year.” Fortunate we haven’t had many large fires in the dorms. “We hope to keep it that way.”  MSU Maintenance – Infrastructure Planning & Facilities Name: Andrew Smith Title: Occupational Safety Compliance officer. Contact: 517-353-1760 We have people daisy chain them and overheat – mixed daisy chains. People buying cheap power sources. Look for UL – tested and approved. Can also be a trip hazard when maintenance tries to work. Don’t put them underneath carpets or put stress on them by hanging them. Make sure you put them somewhere you won’t have water dripping on them. Only so many ways to set up a dorm room, but try to find the best power strips with longest cords. Try and only use so many items per power cord. 

NEWS

North and Brody neighborhoods still don't have night receptionists

Cameron Macko
November 12, 2014

Last year, the Department of Residence Education and Housing Services, REHS, began a pilot program for residents in both Brody and North Neighborhoods allowing them to enter their halls after midnight without having a night receptionists swipe them in. Residents would instead use the electronic access system to get into residence halls.

NEWS

MSU fitness instructors find satisfaction in positive energy during yoga, Zumba classes

Jasmin Rojo
November 12, 2014

MSU students teach fitness classes for the love of exercise and to motivate students to be active in a fun way.

SPORTS

Swimming and diving senior captain David Zoltowski is a finalist for academic scholarship, with several others under his belt

Katie Winkler
November 12, 2014

David Zoltowski Named Finalist For Rhodes Scholarship Senior captain advances in the pursuit of two prestigious scholarships. EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State swimming and diving senior David Zoltowski has been named a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship. The Spartan captain is trying to become the 17th Michigan State student to be honored with the prestigious scholarship and the first Spartan student-athlete to be honored since Molly Brennan in 1982. The Rhodes Trust is the oldest of the major international competitive award foundations. MSU has produced 16 Rhodes Scholars since 1903. The Rhodes trust gives 32 undergraduates the opportunity to study at the University of Oxford in England. Zoltowski will head to Indianapolis, Indiana later this month to interview for the scholarship. ?I?m very excited,? said Zoltowski. ?I?ve been waiting to hear about this for a long time. I?m really excited to prepare further and go to Indianapolis to interview. I?d like to thank head coach Matt Gianiodis, Ashley Green from the scholarships office, and Jim Pignataro, among others. It would be too much to list everyone I would like to thank.? A native of West Lafayette, Indiana, Zoltowski is a Big Ten Distinguished Big Ten Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten selection. He is also a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, Eta Kappa Nu and an Honors Times Two mentor. The electrical engineering major works with an MSU professor conducting research using advance signal processing tools to study the functional connectivity networks of the human brain. ?I chose Michigan State because Coach Gianiodis gave me an opportunity to swim in the Big Ten Conference,? said Zoltowski. ?I majored in engineering because of the important skills the major develops. I?m studying the brain as an application to my research because I find it very interesting and want to learn more about developmental disorders.? After he graduates from Michigan State, he plans to pursue a doctoral degree in electrical engineering, conducting research combining electrical engineering and neuroscience to advance the knowledge of the brain. Earlier this week, Zoltowski was nominated for the Churchill Scholarship. The Winston Churchill Foundation?s Scholarship program was established in 1959. The scholarship gives 14 American students a chance to pursue a degree in engineering, mathematics, or the science in Churchill College at the University of Cambridge. Zoltowski is looking to become Michigan State University?s 17th Churchill Scholar. ?I have never been more proud about anything here at Michigan State,? said Gianiodis. ?This is fantastic, it is great for the university. I think it speaks volumes for our academic programs here at Michigan State. From an administrative standpoint, from an athletics standpoint, everything about this University I think is fantastic. I think David has a good chance of getting it too. He is without question the hardest worker we have ever had here in my 18 years at Michigan State. He is fully without question deserving of this honor. No one has worked harder to get something like this and it has been truly earned.? ?David is a proven leader and scholar,? said student-athlete support services director Jim Pignataro. ?He has exemplified the true meaning of the term student-athlete. We continue to celebrate his academic accomplishments, and are in awe of his commitment to his research and the sport of swimming.? In March, Zoltowski became the 36th MSU recipient of the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. He was also awarded the MSU Honors College National Scholarship, Walter R. Yates Memorial Scholarship and Arthur J. Harris Memorial Scholarship. A multi-event swimmer for the Spartans, Zoltowski competes in the 200 and 400 individual medley, 200 backstroke, 200 butterfly 500 and 1000 freestyle. This season against Iowa, he posted a career-best time in the 1000 freestyle, with a time of 9:36.94. He finished a career-best 34th overall in the 200 butterfly at the 2013 Big Ten Championships, swimming a personal-best time of 1:53.10. Zoltowski also posted a career-best time of 3:59.69 to place 35th in the 400 individual medley, which is the eighth-fastest time at Michigan State.