by Sotirios Doolen
Unless you have skipped all of your classes for the past month, you have probably been wondering why the lawn outside of Brothers College keeps oozing white steam. Various explanations have been hypothesized by imaginative Drew students, ranging from a failed experiment by the chemistry department, to this being Drews attempt to get into the Halloween spirit and create a spooky atmosphere on the way to class. Jokes aside, there are students on campus who have genuine questions as to why we cannot seem to get the ground to stop smoking on campus. Especially those with night classes who would appreciate not having to walk through the setting of a scary movie back to their dorms
Alexander Pearce (‘19) voiced these concerns saying, “I’m a little worried that Drew can’t seem to fix this and I really think it should be one of their top priorities right now” This sentiment is echoed by others who walk to class every day worried that what they are inhaling could be harmful to them.
To find the answer, The Drew Acorn contacted the Director of Campus Safety and Security Bill Ortman. Ortman explained via email that, “There are two broken steam pipes in the area (including near the archives). There is no hazard but it will be expensive and disruptive to repair.” He also explained that they are currently waiting for the right moment to do the repairs when it will cause the least amount of disruption to the campus.
This should abate any fears of a harmful gas getting into our respiratory systems or of a chemistry experiment gone bad. However, the administration had not previously been transparent with the Drew community in regard to the issue. Many continue to speculate on the causes and meanings of the ominous steam by our classrooms because of a lack of information.
Hopefully repairs will be done soon so that the overactive imagination of Drew students can be focused on more productive topics.
