Lycoming College Report, April 1982

              LYCOMING COLLEGE REPORT April, 1982
Fire damages Williams Hall
The first floor hall (above) of Williams Hall's south wing
was strewn with charred and burned rubble after the
Good Friday fire. The scene in the room where the fire
started (right I shows the extent of the damage, which fire
officials said could have been much greater if the
building wasn't so well fireproofed.
A smokey fire blamed on a faulty extension cord
displaced 19 Lycoming students and caused an
estimated $80,000 damage to the first floor of the south
wing of Williams Hall on Good Friday There was only
a minor injury, a cut hand.
The fire, which was reported to the Williamsport fire
department at 11:02 p.m. , was brought under control
within 15 minutes. It took about an hour, however, to
clear ihe thick, black smoke from the first floor of the
building.
Fire damage was confined primarily to a couple of
rooms and the hall outside the rooms, with the room
where the fire started sustaining substantial damage.
There was smoke and water damage to the hall and
other rooms on the floor, however, with the second
floor of the wing getting only a fine coating of soot from
the smoke.
Fire officials said the fire began in a closet containing
a small refrigerator connected to a wall outlet by the
extension cord. It is believed the refrigerator may have
required too much electricity for the cord to handle, or
that the cord may have been worn.
There were no students on the floor at the time the
fire was discovered because many of them had gone
home for the Easter weekend, were out, or were in a nearby
lounge. The fire was discovered by several students in
the lounge Those students still in the residence hall
evacuated it quickly and safely.
Students displaced by the fire were being housed
elsewhere on campus for the remainder of the spring
semester.
Insurance is expected to cover the cost of the damage
Repairs were to begin as soon as possible after the
insurance company adjustors completed their
investigation and appraisal
Campus ministry powered by Father T'and the Rev. 'E'
Question: What Lycoming student group reaches
more campus residents7
A: the football team, B the choir, C: the fraternities
and sororities; D: the United Campus Ministry.
If you said "D," you're right. Through its phalanx of
activities. UCM effects almost every student on campus.
Although its regular membership is relatively small,
UCM, including its Catholic Council component,
sponsors more than 50 campus and community service,
social, and religious activities and projects throughout
the year.
Its advisor, the Rev. John Tamalis, Lycoming's
Roman Catholic chaplain since 1976, explains that
UCM and its headquarters, the UCM Center in the
refurbished basement of Clarke Building, form the core
of religious life at Lycoming — and much more.
"We try to supply the students on a spiritual,
educational, and social realm." says Father "T, " as he is
called fondly by the students. He co-directs UCM with
first-year Protestant campus minister, the Rev Jerry
Eischeid, affectionately known as the Rev "E
,"
In the spiritual realm, UCM helps bring to the
students daily Catholic masses and Sunday and
Wednesday Protestant services. It also sponsors
dormitory room blessings at the beginning of every
semester, the monthly day of prayer, off-campus
retreats for both Catholic and Protestant students, and
Bible-study sessions.
UCM educational activities deal primarily with
campus and community service projects Popular
programs such as Big Brother/ Big Sister (students
become "bigs'' to little boys and girls from broken
homes), Adopt-a-Grandparent (students visit and
participate in activities with "adopted grandparents'' at
a nursing home), and Adopt-a-College Student
(students go into local homes for a meal or place to
study as a retreat from campus) all operate in
conjunction with UCM. Ninety students alone are big
brothers or big sisters
Among the campus service projects are "care
package'' deliveries (parents are encouraged to send a
box of assorted goodies to their sons and daughters
during final exam weeks), the workers' Christmas party
(a UCM social for Lycoming's maintenance and
custodial staff), and the Fast For World Hunger
(students sign away meals in the cafeteria one evening
with the amount saved going to the needy).
Social events include a ski weekend in the Poconos, a
by Welles B Lobb, Assistant EditO)
pizza bash, and a "welcome back" wine-and-cheese
party open to all students in September
"We try to have alternatives to frat parties,' said the
Rev Eischeid.
One of the year's most ambitious undertakings, the
second-annual Catholic Council carnival, was to be
held this month on campus. This three-day fund-raising
affair has the trimmings of a small-town firemen's fair:
food stands, rides, games of chance, and a Sunday
afternoon roast beef dinner
Father Tamalis points out that the carnival is "a great
opportunity to get people from the community on
campus,'
UCM is open to all students, regardless of belief. To
accomodate all denominations, "we try to construe
everything in a very broad way," Father Tamalis says
News of UCM activities is disseminated through its
weekly newsletter. Celebration. Students serve as
couriers, sliding a copy under every dorm room door
"We don't pressure anybody to come to church." the
Rev. Eischeid said.
The pinnacle of direct religious participation at
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