-Meru

> Let me see if I understand this...
>
> The Caltech administration required that the surface of the Dabney courtyard
> be replaced with something other than firebrick so as to deter any future
> bonfires?

Yes, We had a bonfire which had flames that lept over the roof. This prompted some local residents to call the fire dept. The fire dept. came, were pissed off and hosed down the fire. The police also came, a mess ensued and the police thretened to charge Alf Mikula, then pressident, with conspiracy to commit arson and drag him off to jail immediatly unless the police was given a list of persons "involved" in the bonfire. We gathered up volunteers who wished to take responcibility and had them sign a list and gave the list to the police. The police went away that night and then the DRL (Director of Resident Life, a non faculty MOSH replacement) chewed us out. Later the police indicated to the DRL that they wanted us to give them the name of the person who actually lit the fire who would then be charged with arson. They also stated that they were intending to charge the president with conspiracy to commit arson.

The Caltech administration cut us completely adrift and refused to give us any help whatsoever, even going so far as to deny that caltech had ever helped students in trouble with the law(Specificly they alledged that the MOSH had never bailed students out of jail unless he had done so as an random individual.) More circumstamtial evidance piled up indicating that the police really wanted some scapegoat for this. I forget if it was the administration or a darb who suggested this, but eventually it was sugested that we get legal counsel. After a bunch of long house meetings, we finally hired a local lawyer who, for $500, reached a settlement with the police which required a certain number of darbs to take and pass a fire safety class offered by the fire dept. consisting of class from 9am-12 every saturday of the term and a one evening ride-alon with a fire dept. ambulance. Furthmore, the fire dept. charged us for the class ~$1400 of which the house payed $500, alums donated $160 and each of the ~35 "students" payed $20 each. Caltech refused to pay any part of the class, but after much prodding finally agreed to give each student 3 units of Pa credit.

I'm not sure whether or not this was done at the request of the police or as part of the settlement, but the administration insisted on removing the fire bricks. When they informed us of this, they told us that we could replace it with anything we liked. After many more house meetings, we descided on a stone chessboard with a strange projection of a world map carved into it. The administration agreed. What actually got put in was a cheezy terrazo chess board that is very slippery when it gets wet and gets marked up very easily. The administration then told us that they would not carve in the map. They claimed that the chess board cost $16,000 to put in and that engraving would cost $8,000 more.

Now for a little background. The fire dept. did not just randomly go off the deep end. The previous year, a bunch of people in a north house got drunk and set fire to a platic Pavillions (Pavillions is where the Pantry used to be) shopping cart and pushed it down the orange walk. Also the drunk people set fire a few peoples room doors. Now setting fire to someone's door is pretty clearly arson, so the fire dept got pretty peeved and a lot of shit hit a lot of fans. This prompted the DRL's office to review the bonfire policy. Part of the bonfire policy involved asking for permission to hold bonfires. We asked for permission to hold the bonfire, were refused permission on the grounds that the policy was still being revieved. The excom descided to go ahead and have the bonfire anyway, but did not inform the rest of the house.

This is a hopfully accurate history of the dabney frosh bonfire insident of 1st term 92-93.