ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 5, 1996 TAG: 9612050052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Equipping high-rise dormitories with life-saving sprinkler systems is ``an urgent and critical need,'' especially at colleges where rescue ladders don't reach the top floors, Gov. George Allen said Wednesday.
The governor told a news conference that he is considering a number of options - including an increase in student fees - to pay for the installation of sprinklers in 12 high-rise dorms at state-supported colleges.
Virginia Tech spokesman Dave Nutter said Wednesday that students have borne the cost of fire alarm systems in the past. ``When we put in the fire alarms, that was all student fees,'' Nutter said.
The bill for adding sprinklers to Virginia Tech's five high-rise dorms is estimated at $5.6million, he said.
Allen said using student fees instead of state funds to pay for the sprinkler systems is not unrealistic. ``As far as the dorms are concerned, they are paid for by the users of the dorms,'' he said.
The Associated Press reported last week that 13 high-rise dorms on seven Virginia campuses do not have sprinkler systems.
About 7,000 students live in the state's dozen high-rises. In addition to the five dorms at Virginia Tech, there are two each at Longwood College and Norfolk State University and one each at Radford University, James Madison University and the University of Virginia. The other high-rise, housing about 200 students, is at Hampton University, a private school.
LENGTH: Short : 36 linesby CNB