• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1982-09-02_Vol47_No02_01

On the Inside... Women's volleyball, sports; LMP Report, Entertainment estern (Earoltntatt Volume 47, Issue 2 Voice of the Students and University Community Dorm Room Gutted By Fire September 2, 1982 by MJ Schutz Hundreds of students poured out of their dorm rooms I uesda) night as a lire blu/ed on the second floor of Helder dormitory. At approximately 8:45 pm, fire broke out in room 201 on the North wing of Helder. The blaze continued apparently unnoticed for some minutes. An RAat Scott Dormitory, noticed the smoke pouring out of the second- story window from the lobby on the first floor of Scott, and ran toward the building to see if her help was needed. "The alarm didn't go off until 1 was halfway across the parking lot," said the RA who was quite upset over the length of time it took until Helder residents responded to the alarm. "They thought it was a bigjoke."she said in an interview conducted on Helder's lawn as firemen fought the Hames. "I found some of the other RA's, and we started running up and down the hallways, banging on people's doors and yelling, 'It's not a joke; it's not a drill. Get outside!\but it was hard to get them to believe us. Everybody thought it was just onebigjoke."The RA was somewhat angry over the slow response, and understandably upset over the possible consequences had the fire been more serious. She agreed that the reason that the alarm was not taken seriously was probably the frequent false alarms that dormitory residents will undoubtedly be familiar with. By 9:00 . however, the building had been evacuated, and Cullowhee's Volunteer Fire Department had responded to the call, bringing a 1,000 gallon water tanker and 8 other vehicles. The Student Emergency Care (SEC) Team was also on hand, although, fortunately, no one was injured in the blaze. SEC Team Chief Devin Dull was on the third floor of Helder when the alarm sounded, and he rushed to room 201 to see if anyone was trapped inside. "I got to the room and opened the door, and it just exploded," said Dull. "I couldn't believe the force of it." After ascertaining that the room was vacant, Dull headed outside, obviously shaken. The firemen, directed by Chief Roy Shuler, quickly brought the fire under control, and the flames were extinguished by 9:10 pm. High-powered fans were used to vent the acrid smoke from the hall, and then from the room. The room itself was a wreck. The mirror on the wall nearest the blaze had shattered, scattering glass fragments all over the floor. The closets flanking the mirror were scorched and burned, and most of the clothing in them was smoke-damaged Soot covered the ceiling, walls, and the floor, anil the smell of smoke lingered. Firemen hacked away a portion ot the ceiling tile to check for lingering sparks, which could have re- ignited the Inc. but the flames were thoroughly extinguished. By 9:30, the residents of the room. Janice McKloskey and Tammy Royal, were led back to their room to see the damage for themselves. "Most of the stuff in the closets was ruined, from smoke and wet soot. The articles on the countcrtop were destroyed, and of course, the alarm clock radio are gone," said Tammy. "Posters turned to ash. and-one wooden crescent moon with a crystal in it, which my Mom gave me, was just gone. I can't replace that. I could buy one, maybe, but it wouldn't be the one my Mom gave me." Not everything was ruined, though. I he stuff in the dressers was okay. "1 lost a lot ol mj clothes People from Walker were really great thev brought clothes, stuffed animals, money thev were just great to us." Ihe contents of the room were insured, and. with luck, the girls will recover-most of their clothing and personal effects. Some things, however, simply can't be replaced such as the gift from Tammy's mother. Firemen say that the cause of the fire was a short in the television set (which was turned off at the time). Tammy Royal related that the TV had been damaged some time ago by a lightning-induced power surge, which could explain the short. Cullowhee Volunteer Fireman "Mayor" Pressley had this to say to the Carolinian: "You tell these kids that the firemen really appreciate the way everybody cooperated with us. There were a lew times when.people tried to tell us what to do 1 think they werejust trying to be helpful. Everything works out best when people realize that the Fire Department has sole authority in these situations; we've been trained to handle them. But. for the most part, the students were just great. Real cooperation and we really appreciate that." Thanks to the Cullowhee VFD. the lire was well handled and quickly extinguished, and the students of WCl) certainly appreciate that. photo by Mark Haskett School Controversy Canada School, located east of Cullowhee, has been the subject of controversy lately, due to its recent closing. One of the prime reasons lor the Jackson County Board of Education to decide to close the school was its low attendance level 38 students in grades K through 12 at id of the 1981-82 school year and the financial and social aspects involved. Still, there has been some notable dissatisfaction among people living in the Canada comunity. Their main arguments are that the distance the Canada children must now travel to attend Camp Lab School is too far, and that Canada should have had more support in order to have avoided the closing in the first place. Mr. Roger Shelton, chairman of the Jackson County School Board, said that having to close Canada School "wasn't a pleasant thing to do." but nevertheless by Darrell Beck was necessary. He stated that the school board studied the problem closely, and decided to take action to close the school on June 28 of this year. I he students are being brought to Camp I.ab School now and are in attendance there. Mr. Shelton said that, although money was an important factor in the decision, it wasn't the greatest one to consider. The social aspects of the students have greater advantages at Camp Lab. he believes. Also, it was considered whether or not it was feasible to bus the students the distance to Camp Lab. A meeting is planned to be held soon, in ord discuss the transition between schools, although no definite date for the meeting is set so far. Also, according to Mr. Shelton. no legal suits of any kind are planned at this time. Carr; Life Is Precious by Doug Irwin Ronnie Carr has the kind of positive attitude that makes stars out of people. The kind that enables them to overcome setbacks and go on excelling. When the setback happens to be the sudden end of a career though, many would be fallen stars. It has been less than two months since the accident that ended Ronnie's basketball career. Even though he seems to grimace when basketball becomes the subject of discussion, in a short time he has accepted and adjusted to the reality. Having a jump shot that moved one sportswriter to mention that Carr could hit the jump shot from the parking lot, Ronnie spent three illustrious seasons on Western Carolina's basketball team. With credentials like Southern Conference Freshman of the Year in 1979- 80 and a two time all-conference pick, Ronnie went to the University of North Carolina basketball camp as a counselor this past summer. He had finished the first week of basketball camp and was driving home early Saturday morning when the accident occured. "I was having a good time up there," exclaimed Ronnie in a recent interview. "I was meeting people and playing alot of ball," he continued. He played much with James Worthy, Jimmy Black and most of the UNC basketball team twice a day. There were also a few pros there and he was really excited about getting much play time. "Personally I was feeling good about myself. I was in good shape, enjoyed working with the kids and I figured by the time school started I gonna be ready," he explained. Ronnie does not remember the wreck. The accident occured in Chapel Hill on July 17 and he was released [from the hospital one month later. At first, his condition rwas not that serious—a broken left wrist which needed a metal rod, and extensive damage to his left ankle which he still uses crutches for. That was nothing that would have kept him from finishing his senior season. Not until days later was the major problem discovered. "I had Shortness of breath real bad and they took me down for some tests," said Ronnie. "They found out it was a leaky valve in my heart. My reaction was 'damn this can't really be happening.' They (doctors) gave me some hope and said it (the valve) may. heal itself. I was really praying then." When it was determined that the operation would be necessary, Ronnie went with the doctors word. "My mother being as religious as she is thought that the was mentioned, he kind of shrugged it off. "I wouldn't want to go in there (practice) and try to force my style on anyone. Everybody has there own style." When asked about his teammates chances of competing without three of the starters from last year's team, Ronnie was ever positive. "In my book, if I had a vote, I would honestly picked us first. Ced (Cedric Cokely) I believe is going to be the best player ever in the Southern Conference. The freshmen have surprised me much. It is a great crop of freshmen," he explained. Ronnie also mentioned the returning players look so much more experienced, also. Cullowhee is certainly going miss Ronnie Carr's jump shot, but one can guarantee when the team takes the floor this winter, they will be taking a bit of Ronnie Carr with them. As a basketball player and human being, Ronnie Carr is first in anyone's book. problem would take care of itself. I told her it's not that I don't believe in the Lord but the doctors said it (the operation) would have to be done. I told her the good Lord would be looking over me during the operation and He wouldn't let them go in and do nothing unnecessary," Ronnie explained. That kind of faith and trust has not only helped Ronnie overcome the operation but has also helped him face and accept the fact that his playing career was all but over. While the accident took his fledging career away from him, it did give him the opportunity to see life a little differently. "I would look out the hospital window and see people walking on the streets and just wish I could walk," said Ronnie. "People would come in to visit me and I would tell them I wished that I could just leave with them. I just wanted then to be able to live a normal life." He continued, "It made me realize how precious life was. I took alot of things for granted. Maybe the good Lord had something else for me to do." When asked if he thought the accident had anything to do with destiny, Ronnie replied "under the circumstances it may have been destiny. They said I was driving too fast for conditions, etc. The very next day they put a stoplight up at that same intersection. The next day!" Ronnie mentioned that if it was not for his four brothers he would hot have made it. "I have gotten closer to everybody," said Ronnie. "Coach Cottrell has gotten so close to me because of things he did for me and the time he has taken out." In the corner of Ronnie's dorm room can be seen an example—a large color photograph of Ronnie taking one of his patented jump shots against Marshall last year that Cottrell had made for Ronnie. "From the Chancellor on down —I was really surprised to hear from him." Ronnie concedes that he cannot begin to thank everyone for their cards and support he has received. "It (the response) was good, but it kind of reminded me of something I didn't want to remember," he says. "I have no problems accepting it now, though." All this is history now, and as far as Ronnie Carr is concerned he is just another student in the crowd. That though, is far from the case. "People come up to me now and say 'sorry' and 'man you lost weight,' " he laughs. "Most people didn't think I'd come back (to school), but from the coaching staff on, they emphasize education. I'm not treated any different than any other student—it's just as hard," he laughed again. Ronnie also mentioned that blacks and black atheletes are stereotyped, one stereotype he does not have to worry about falling into. When asked about the future, he said he would like to go into business. "My family owns a business but I would like to have my own," he stated. When coaching photos by Mark Haskett

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1982-09-02
  • Date digitized: 2018-11-19
• Extent
  • Dimension: 15" x 11.5"
  • Pages: 16 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1982-09-02_Vol47_No02
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library