For a college whose iconic building has burned to the ground three times, prioritizing fire prevention at the school seems practical.

Yet according to the College of William and Mary’s 2011 fire safety report, the majority of campus residence halls lack flame-quenching sprinkler systems. A congressional bill to provide funding for sprinkler system installation at universities could improve the safety of students at the College — and prevent dorms from suffering the fate of the often-scorched Sir Christopher Wren Building.

The Stephanie Tubbs Jones College Fire Prevention Act, introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives Oct. 24 and the U.S. Senate Oct. 31, seeks to address inadequate campus fire safety by providing matching grants to fund up to half of the installation costs for sprinklers and other fire prevention measures in university dormitories.

“The effectiveness of sprinklers, if it’s been properly maintained and installed correctly, they have about a 99 percent effective rate at saving lives,” Edwin Caldas, board member of the American Fire Sprinkler Association Virginia Chapter, said.

Residence hall fires have not been a common problem at the College recently. No incidents were recorded last year, one took place in a Ludwell apartment in 2009, and two kitchen fires occurred in 2008.

But college dormitory blazes are on the rise nationwide. According to the National Fire Protection Association, 1,800 residence hall fires were recorded in 1998, and 3,300 in 2005. Between 2005 and 2009, there was an annual average of 3,840 dorm fires, which caused an average of 3 deaths and 38 injuries each year.

The NFPA maintains that sprinkler systems are highly effective in preventing residence fire fatalities; according to its statistics, the death-per-fire rate is 83 percent lower in residences with sprinklers than in residences without them.

At the College, only the graduate student housing complexes and Hunt, Jamestown North, Jamestown South and Reves halls have full sprinkler systems. Cabell, Harrison and Monroe halls possess partial systems. That leaves more than 60 campus residence halls, including the sorority houses and lodges, without sprinklers.

School officials note that most of the College’s dorms were constructed well before sprinklers were required by building codes, and that current building code does not mandate installing them in old residence halls.

“There’s no requirement to go back and put them in existing buildings, that would be a really big expense for people, and people would object to that a lot,” College Building Official for Facilities Management Bob Dillman said.

Expense is not the only factor prohibiting sprinkler installation at the College. According to Dillman, retrofitting a residence hall with sprinklers poses numerous challenges.

“It is difficult to go back into an old building and do something like that, and often it isn’t done unless it’s during a total renovation,” he said. “The only time we can do something like that is when you guys aren’t in the dorms.”

Dillman, who is responsible for ensuring campus buildings meet safety codes, confirmed that each dorm is in compliance with current fire prevention requirements called for by the international building code, which the College adopted in 2000.

“The fact that they meet code normally defines them as safe,” Dillman said.

Associate Vice President of Facilities Management Dave Shepard said that the College has recently been focusing its attention on upgrading its fire alarms systems, and will look into sprinkler installation in the future. The renovation scheduled for Yates Hall next summer will include sprinkler installation.

“It’s not something we’re ignoring — it’s a matter of rethinking and moving ahead,” Shepard said.

Sprinklers do not guarantee safety, though. One of the biggest blazes in the College’s recent history took place May 3, 2005, when a faulty exhaust fan malfunctioned in Preston Hall. There were no injuries, but there was such great fire damage to the third floor and smoke and water damage to the first and second floors that students assigned to live in the dorm in fall 2006 had to be housed in the Governor’s Inn hotel.
Preston Hall, Dillman pointed out, had sprinklers at the time of the fire.

“One of the interesting things is that Preston was sprinklered, under a code that required the occupied floors to be sprinklered, but not the attic, and the fire started in the attic,” Dillman said. “When we rebuilt Preston, we put sprinklers in the attic. The code changes because people learn from things like that.”

Dillman was skeptical of the Fire Prevention Act.

“Somebody thinks it’s a really good idea and they put a bill together but they don’t go very far,” he said. “I’ve seen this before. It’s a good idea, but it takes a lot of money.”

The College is in the process of hiring a new fire safety official, and the blueprints for the new fraternity housing complex include sprinkler systems.

“As it can afford it, I expect someday all of our dorms will have sprinklers in them,” Dillman said. “I’m hopeful that it will happen. That’s one of the things I’d like to see, because it does improve things. It would be a definite improvement.”

The College of William and Mary’s Mason School of Business and Marshall-Wythe School of Law hosted the first McGlothlin Leadership Forum Nov. 1-3 at Alan B. Miller Hall.

“Academics are often disconnected from reality. The forum brought business into the business school,” Brent Allred, associate professor of international business and strategic management, said. “They helped discuss the state of affairs. They didn’t come with a preconceived agenda. They just answered students’ questions.”

James McGlothlin ’62 J.D. ’64 and now the Chairman and CEO of The United Company, inaugurated the forum to educate students about leadership, responsibility and accountability in global, political and economic systems.

The forum speakers included John Snow, 73rd U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and former CEO of CSX Corporation; David Boies, the Chairman and Managing Partner of Boies; and William C. Weldon, Schiller, and Flexner LLP, and Chairman and CEO of Johnson and Johnson.

Speakers interacted with business and law students in classroom sessions and discussed national and global issues at a plenary session open to the public.

National debt, tort reform and healthcare were among the main issues discussed.

Boies began the session with a discussion of the importance of tort reform.

“The current system imposes costs on our economy and society that are becoming increasingly intolerant,” Boies said. “In the past, when we were the dominant world economy and didn’t have to worry about global competition, we could impose a lot of costs on ourselves and still succeed. We can’t do that anymore.”

Weldon also spoke about problems associated with healthcare.

“The issue in the healthcare industry is, if there is negligence or bad behavior on our part, we should be put into a position where we have a responsibility to whoever is injured,” Weldon said. “However, a lot of the issues that go on are not due to negligence. You can have an MRI, X-Ray, or CAT scan when you know they are not needed. Too much protection is the wrong reason, and it drives costs up.”

Healthcare has contributed to an increase in debt amongst individuals. Snow argued that the cause of the national debt and the slow growth of the economy is the government’s substitution of public debt for private debt.

Despite the current economic conditions, many businesses remain optimistic that new, young leaders’ will facilitate their success.

“Young people have out-of-the-box, different viewpoints and bring new ideas to our companies; our success was always in these new ideas,” McGlothlin said. “Tomorrow will definitely have students from this school and others.”

Students and professors thought that the forum was beneficial because it provided a space for students to collaborate with the speakers in a small, intimate setting.

“The interaction with executives of such high caliber, especially in a small classroom setting was unique,” business professor Franklin Robeson, said.

With the success of the first McGlothlin forum, professors and administrators at the business school have started planning a second McGlothlin Leadership Forum next year to continue dialogue about leadership.

Election night was intense for those watching Virginia General Assembly poll results come in Tuesday. While four of the six offices proffered for election on Williamsburg City ballots were uncontested, the state House of Delegates and Senate seats were contested and narrowly decided.

Elections were different from those last year because districts were recently redrawn. Another change resulted from Republican candidate Mike Watson’s win over incumbent Del. Robin Abbott J.D. ’01 (D) for the 93rd district of the Virginia General Assembly. Incumbent state senator John Miller (D-1) retained his seat, beating out opposing Republican candidate Mickey Chohany by a slim margin.

“I would hope that people would take away [from this election] that elections can be about the issues, not about character assasinations or policies of personal attacks as my opponent and the Republican Party used against me,” Miller said.

While Miller fared well in the state Senate election, winning with 51 percent of the vote, the polls told a different story for Abbott. Though the contestants ran neck-to-neck, Abbott’s opponent, Watson, attained 52 percent of the ballots cast, ousting the single-term incumbent.

The combined $816,000 spent by Watson and Abbott for this election was decided in the end by 480 votes. A combined $1.66 million was spent between the two Senate candidates. The Senate race was also hotly contested until the end and was decided by only 985 votes.

“My background is in business, and I want to apply what I have learned as a businessman to be a better leader,” Watson said, echoing the refrain of private enterprise that became a hallmark of his campaign. “As soon as I can take a leadership role, I will.”

Some students expressed reservations about this election.

“I would like to have seen greater student understanding of specific issues,” William and Mary Young Democrats President Katie Deabler ’12 said. “No matter what happens though, we are very pleased with student turnout — especially in an odd election year.”

Despite a win in the General Assembly House of Delegates, some College Republicans hoped for more success.

“We put up a good fight,” College Republican First Vice Chairman Chandler Crenshaw ’14 said. “It was an uphill battle all the way. Unfortunately, it did not turn out the way we had hoped.”

This gain in seats will alter party control in the state Senate.

“It is going to be interesting to see how the relationship works out . . . We look forward to seeing both parties work together to pass legislation,” Crenshaw said.

The previously Democrat-controlled House is now under the co-reign of both parties with 20 seats each. This will increase the significance of Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling (R) in the legislative process, as he will be called to cast his decisive vote should the Senate come to a tie.

“Make no mistake about it, there is a Republican majority in the state Senate,” Bolling said Wednesday to reporters in Richmond.

The GOP will have a more empowered position in the new government, given its control of the House of Delegates and co-majority in the state Senate, as well as Republican control of the offices of governor, lieutenant governor and state attorney general.

“It is critically important that we do not be arrogant, but that we govern effectively and reflect the will of the people,” Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) said in Richmond Wednesday.

In response, Democrats may be preparing for a recount in the 17th state Senate district, previously held by Sen. R. Edward Houck (D-17). His Republican challenger, Bryce Reeves, won the seat by a slim margin of 222 votes out of more than 45,000 cast.

Abbott understood that she faced stiff opposition from the start.

“There was an eight-point swing in the 93rd from Democrat to Republican [due to redistricting],” she said. “I knew it would be a difficult race . . . There was large turnout in James City County and Kings Mill for the County Supervisor race there — with low turnout out in the Newport News area.”

Abbott won the Newport News vote, but lost in James City County.

“It has been an absolute pleasure to represent the people of the 93rd district, and I wish Mike Watson the best of luck,” she said.

The campaign office of Chohany did not respond to requests for comment.

In the uncontested elections for James City County and Williamsburg incumbents, Nathan R. Green J.D. ’98 (R) was re-elected as the Commonwealth’s attorney with 98 percent of ballots cast. Robert J. Deeds (R) was re-elected as sheriff with 98 percent of ballots cast. M. Ann Davis (I) was re-elected treasurer for James City County with 99 percent of ballots cast. Leslie Bowie (I) was elected Soil and Water Conservation director, Colonial District with 92 percent of ballots cast.