Student death at Chapel Hill last night

<p>A friend's daughter just called to say that the RA and a freshman were "horsing around" in the hallway of the dorm last night and they fell from a 3rd story window. The RA died and the other boy is critical. This is such a terrible accident. I can't imagine the grief and sorrow of those families and the shock of the other students on the floor. Two other boys from our hometown live on that floor and they are receiving counseling from the school. What a tragedy.</p>

<p>That is a horrific tragedy and just unfathomable for their families. Thoughts going out to those families and to all the students. Prayers that the second boy survives and improves.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wral.com/news/7394128/detail.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.wral.com/news/7394128/detail.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Here is a link to a news report on the story.</p>

<p>I just heard this on NRP. How tragic. They said the person who died was a Sophmore.</p>

<p>OMG...................I can barely breathe. I just can't even imagine the collective grief. What a senseless, tragic loss. ~berurah</p>

<p>S said they sent an email out to all students this morning, This is so very sad.</p>

<p>Here's story from Daily Tar Heel</p>

<p>Dailyhttp://media.<a href="http://www.dailytarheel.com/media/paper885/news/2006/02/24/University/Student.Dies.After.Fall.From.Dorm.Window-1636600.shtml?sourcedomain=www.dailytarheel.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.dailytarheel.com/media/paper885/news/2006/02/24/University/Student.Dies.After.Fall.From.Dorm.Window-1636600.shtml?sourcedomain=www.dailytarheel.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Oh this is just heartbreaking. Does a window 2 and a half feet from the ground seem low to anyone else? (especially on the third floor?)</p>

<p>Very sad story.
momof2inca: Not sure what you mean. Here is, perhaps, a better picture of the building, which gives a better sense of the third floor.
<a href="http://housing.unc.edu/communities/tour/lower_quad/stour.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://housing.unc.edu/communities/tour/lower_quad/stour.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>How terrible! While you can't safeguard these students from every eventuality, couldn't there be some device that would shield the window to at least a 36-42" height...like a guard rail. It wouldn't impede a deliberate fire exit, but would perhaps prevent an accidental fall like this. How sad for everyone.</p>

<p>This is so very sad--it's every parent's worst nightmare to receive a call like those parents got in the middle of the night. I am guessing that the windows at the end of each hall were almost like a picture window, intending to provide good light for the hallway during the day, and a beautiful view of the campus. The force of two men hitting it was probably never anticipated, though should have been taken into consideration when designing the dorm....hindsight....</p>

<p>We will certainly be praying for the families of those two young men, and for the recovery of the second student. And hugging our own kids, whether physically or through an email!</p>

<p>irish: Yes, the building is an old one (built in 1930's), though renovated in the last decade. And those windows are very big--sort of floor to ceiling type windows.</p>

<p>Slightly off topic--one of the first things I noticed from the housing info is that the building is not "sprinked". A student at our Local U died in a fire two years ago (in off-campus housing). I was happy to learn that DS was assigned to a dorm with a sprinkler system.</p>

<p>Terrible story; such a tragedy for all concerned.</p>

<p>The height of the window from the floor is standard though--I just measured here at home: the windowsill on my third-floor home-office window is 30 inches from the floor. I think probably some sort of protective grate or soft barrier is probably the answer for large end-of-hall windows public places.</p>

<p>I woke up this morning to an email in my inbox from one of my students saying he wasn't going to make it for lab because he was at the hospital all night since a couple of his dormmates fell out of the 3rd floor window and sustained 'life threatening' injuries.</p>

<p>I didn't hear about the death until early this afternoon when I found out that the student that had died was a student in one of the classes my good friend teaches. Yesterday morning he was in his geology lab taking class...this morning, lost his life.</p>

<p>It's a very sad story indeed and it's hitting very close to home here. I told my student he can make up the lab when he feels ready to do so, but I'm not going to rush him. I also informed him if there was anything I could do to help I'd be more than happy to.</p>

<p>I am kicking myself for the half second this morning when I thought maybe a student was pulling a fast-one on me to get out of a Friday afternoon lab...</p>

<p>By the way, they didn't send an email to all students, just undergraduates I believe. I didn't receive an email for it, just a very cold email that got send to all of the instructors who had him as a student to remove the student from their rosters (it was VERY cold).</p>

<p>Edit:</p>

<p>I want to add the news article from News14 Carolina. It actually shows a picture of the window in it...</p>

<p><a href="http://rdu.news14.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=80935%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://rdu.news14.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=80935&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>" the pair were racing down the dorm's long hallway. They could not stop in time at the end of the hallway and crashed through the window pane."</p>

<p>Is UNC a college known for parties starting on Thursday night? Was one student chasing the other? They couldn't stop in time? None of this makes any sense.</p>

<p>Rebel Without a Cause? </p>

<p>They both got their leather jackets caught and went over the cliff?</p>

<p>While it does seem freakish, it is definitely possible. A year or two ago, two girls were in rehearsal for a dance at Bennington College and were merely leaning against the glass wall and it broke and they fell to their deaths...one died, one injured severely. I was JUST talking about this a day ago. While they didn't run into the glass, it is similar and they were just leaning against it.
Susan</p>

<p>DS did his research this past summer at Carolina and his dorm assignment for the summer was Stacey hall. He was not on the third floor but was up there a lot as his friends and fellow program participants were up there as well. The dorm is not that big, just narrow. Has rooms on either side of the hallway. at the end of the hallways, 3rd floor especially are full length windows. One on each end of the hall with stairwells going down to the next floor.</p>

<p>The windows go from floor to almost the ceiling with no panes. No carpet on the floors, so it can be slick if wet and it was raining here pretty hard yesterday. His room was a floor down and over a few.</p>

<p>Kat</p>

<p>You should see the windows in the dorms at NYU! And those buildings are a lot higher than three stories. The windows open out, floor to ceiling, with no window guards.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Does a window 2 and a half feet from the ground seem low to anyone else? (especially on the third floor?)

[/quote]
Re: window height. Building codes require that windows meet egress requirements. (People have to be able to exit through them in an emergency.) This is such a tragedy! :(</p>