Campus crime continues:

Damage assessment continues as Northfield Police Department investigates, university re-evaluates the accessibility of buildings

Barrels and trash lined the hallways of the science building in the aftermath of water damage and destruction by vandals in the early hours of Nov. 10. (Neely photo)

By Natasha Waggoner
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

As Professor Ed Hernandez walked into Norwich University's science building Saturday morning, Nov. 10, he heard a sound he shouldn't have: running water.

"I walked in the building around 7:15 Saturday morning, and I heard water running," said Hernandez, who is head of Norwich's math and science division. "When I came around the corner, I could see water on the floor and coming down from the ceiling."

Hernandez immediately called security and facility operations and informed them of what he saw.

Sometime late Friday night or early Saturday morning, vandals entered the building and turned on the emergency showers, taping the handles in such a way that the water would continue to flow. In addition, vandals stuffed paper towels into the drains as well as the toilets on the second floor of Cabot. Apparently the toilets were also flushed, causing them to overflow, adding to the damage.

Bizhan Yahyazadeh, Director of Facilities, said that Security checked the building at 2 a.m., and "everything was fine."

"Obviously this happened after 2 a.m.," said Yahyazadeh, adding that at least two soap dispensers were torn off the walls and thrown into toilets, a bulletin board on the second floor of Tompkins was yanked off the wall, and two exit lights were damaged.

"When we went upstairs there was an inch of water up there and two inches of water downstairs," he said.

According to Hernandez, sometime early Saturday morning, the emergency shower upstairs in the old Cabot annex area was pulled and left running for at least five hours, causing extensive damage throughout the building.

"I can't even begin to assess how much the damage is going to cost," Hernandez said.

"We have to bring in professional cleaners on top of our own (crews), and there's also areas we haven't even looked in, yet, such as the storage room with the physics equipment."

The emergency showers are intended for use in the chemistry and physics labs in case individuals in the area are exposed to harmful chemicals. Hernandez said that water comes out of them very fast.

"We were initially told that the water comes out 80 gallons per minute, but then later we were told it only comes 30 gallons per minute, and if it was running for five hours, we're looking about 10,000 to 15,000 gallons of water," Hernandez said. "The shower caused 99 percent of the damage. The toilets that were clogged did very little."

In addition to the extensive water damage, several computers in the Cabot computer lab were also vandalized, though the damage was not caused by the water running concurrently down the hall.

"The computers weren't damaged by water," Hernandez said. "The CD-ROMs and disk drives were either jammed, ripped or torn out, and one mouse was destroyed. It even looked like one of the computers was tried to be set on fire."

Of the approximately 100 computers in various offices and the Cabot lab, five required replacement components or pieces such as keyboards, mice and CD-ROM drives. Some were damaged by water, as well. At least one telephone was damaged by water, according to Phil Susmann, Chief Information Officer, adding that five laptop power supplies were also destroyed by water, as well.

Mary Doud, Susmann's administrative assistant, said there was probably less than $1,000 damage in the pieces needing to be replaced. However, she said Hernandez's discovery that early in the morning may have prevented what could have been $120,000 to $130,000 worth of damaged servers had the water continued running for another couple of hours.

"It could have been a real disaster for Information Technology," Doud said. She added that the computers have all been repaired and are now usable because spare parts were in stock at the university.

Investigators do not know whether the same vandals are responsible for the water damage and the computer damage, but Hernandez said that evidence indicates both types of damage were done at about the same time.

Photo of damaged ceiling in the science complex

The physics storage room on the first floor of Cabot Hall may also be damaged from water coming through the ceiling. Actual cost estimates will not be known until a complete assessment of the area is done.

The Northfield Police Department was also notified and investigators speculate that the same vandals rigged the showers and clogged the toilets.

"We called the Northfield Police Department to dust for fingerprints," Yahyazadeh said. He said they didn't do fingerprints in the computer area, however, because the police didn't feel it would be necessary.

"There would be millions of fingerprints," Yahyazadeh said.

He explained that each of the computers in the lab are used on average 100 to 135 times each day, and the number of prints from innocent people would make it hard to distinguish the accused. The emergency showers and bulletin board were dusted for fingerprints, however.

According to Northfield Chief of Police Jeff Shaw, the Northfield Police Department is "working on the case, and waiting for any additional information that may surface."

"[Norwich University] really wants to find whoever did this and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," said Shaw, adding that the university has offered a cash reward of $10,000 for any information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Shaw said that anyone with any information regarding this case can contact him personally, adding that this type of vandalism, "goes way beyond a practical joke."

"The cleanup for this will involve an extensive amount of money, and the folks who pay tuition could wind up footing the bill just because someone thought (vandalism) was funny," Shaw said.

Despite the extensive damage, classes resumed as usual on Monday morning, Nov. 12, but some classes were moved to other labs which had sustained less or no damage.

"Faculty are still running their classes now, but the long-term is going to be when the cleanup starts," Hernandez said. "Professors are going to have to move out of their offices, and we'll have to shut down the building at night while the crews come in to clean and disinfect the place."

"On a temporary basis, the science complex will be closed for the next two weeks from 4:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. for cleaning and safety issues," Yahyazadeh said. "Other academic buildings will be closed each day at midnight."

The only exception, according to Yahyazadeh, will be the architecture building, Chaplin Hall, which will remain open 24-hours.

"We want to make sure the academic issues stay intact," Yahyasadeh said. "Some students work around the clock in the architecture building, and it needs to be open for them."

Yahyazadeh said that the administration "needs some research and feedback from the faculty and staff" about how accessible the buildings should be in the future.

"We need to protect our community and guarantee their safety, but the student and faculty needs must be addressed. There has been no permanent decision at this point."

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