2008 Woodie Awards
Student loses fingertip in dorm accident
By Mike Mallory
Rocket Editor-in-Chief
Issue date: 3/3/06 Section: News
A resident of Bard Hall lost the tip of one of her fingers after a faulty door slammed on her hand Monday night.
Tiffany Cook, a sophomore communication major at Slippery Rock University, was visiting friends on the back side of the second floor of the building around 11 p.m. Holding her hand between the door and the frame, Cook could not pull away in time to stop the door from slamming into her hand and taking the tip of her left ring finger, according to eyewitnesses.
Bard Hall Community Assistant Kandice Lindsey was one of the first staff members on the scene. Lindsey, the first floor CA, was on the floor at the time the incident took place.
Lindsey said she asked second floor CA Aaron Haynes to help while she called the hall's coordinator, Janett Matthews. Lindsey said Matthews called the McLachlan Student Health Center shortly thereafter.
Problems with the door included the hinge and lock.
Haynes, who was on duty at the time Cook was hurt, said the broken door was first brought to his attention last Tuesday at the weekly CA meeting. Following the meeting, a sign was posted on one side of the door to make residents aware that the door was broken.
"I did everything that I could do that was made available to me," Haynes said.
Haynes talked with Matthews about the problem last Thursday in a one-on-one meeting. Haynes said Matthews informed him that a work order had been placed with maintenance.
The problem was fixed early Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after Cook's accident took place.
"I hate that she had to lose the tip of her finger to get a door fixed," Haynes said.
Facilities and Planning staff member Shelly Smith said the work order for the door was obtained by maintenance from the Safety Department on Tuesday morning, the day in which the door was fixed.
Lindsey said she believes the general conception among the residence halls is that maintenance is hesitant to fix problems with the doors because they feel students are the ones breaking them in the first place.
Assistant Vice President for Facilities Herb Carlson disagrees.
"We don't care who breaks things, things need to get fixed," Carlson said. "If there's a problem, we want to solve it immediately."
Neither Cook nor Matthews could be reached for comment.
Tiffany Cook, a sophomore communication major at Slippery Rock University, was visiting friends on the back side of the second floor of the building around 11 p.m. Holding her hand between the door and the frame, Cook could not pull away in time to stop the door from slamming into her hand and taking the tip of her left ring finger, according to eyewitnesses.
Bard Hall Community Assistant Kandice Lindsey was one of the first staff members on the scene. Lindsey, the first floor CA, was on the floor at the time the incident took place.
Lindsey said she asked second floor CA Aaron Haynes to help while she called the hall's coordinator, Janett Matthews. Lindsey said Matthews called the McLachlan Student Health Center shortly thereafter.
Problems with the door included the hinge and lock.
Haynes, who was on duty at the time Cook was hurt, said the broken door was first brought to his attention last Tuesday at the weekly CA meeting. Following the meeting, a sign was posted on one side of the door to make residents aware that the door was broken.
"I did everything that I could do that was made available to me," Haynes said.
Haynes talked with Matthews about the problem last Thursday in a one-on-one meeting. Haynes said Matthews informed him that a work order had been placed with maintenance.
The problem was fixed early Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after Cook's accident took place.
"I hate that she had to lose the tip of her finger to get a door fixed," Haynes said.
Facilities and Planning staff member Shelly Smith said the work order for the door was obtained by maintenance from the Safety Department on Tuesday morning, the day in which the door was fixed.
Lindsey said she believes the general conception among the residence halls is that maintenance is hesitant to fix problems with the doors because they feel students are the ones breaking them in the first place.
Assistant Vice President for Facilities Herb Carlson disagrees.
"We don't care who breaks things, things need to get fixed," Carlson said. "If there's a problem, we want to solve it immediately."
Neither Cook nor Matthews could be reached for comment.
