Staff Editorial: Safety before economy

Vice President of Facilities Services Omar Blaik's acknowledgement that Penn plans to equip all dormitories with sprinkler systems is a welcome development. Currently, several campus residences, including the high rises, do not have sprinklers.

Following the fatal fires at a Seton Hall University dormitory and a Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania fraternity house two years ago, there can no longer be any question that such a step is necessary to protect the safety of students.

Currently, only New Jersey mandates that all campus residences be fitted with sprinkler systems. This eminently sensible law will help to ensure that tragedies such as those at Seton Hall and Bloomsburg never happen again.

Pennsylvania had an opportunity to pass such a law. The proposed bill would have required colleges and universities in the state to install sprinkler systems in all dormitories, including fraternity and sorority houses.

Unfortunately, this was deemed too expensive and too burdensome on the many institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth. Instead, Pennsylvania will give schools low-interest loans to help pay for the sprinkler systems, but will not mandate them.

Expense is an understandable concern. Penn officials estimate that installing sprinklers in those buildings without them will cost up to $20 million. Many smaller institutions might be unable to afford such an expenditure.

However, in a state with almost 600,000 college students and the third most universities and colleges in the nation, economy cannot be placed above the safety of dormitory residents. State Rep. Michael McGeehan notes that more college students die in fires in Pennsylvania than in any other state. This dubious distinction is more than unfortunate -- it is unacceptable.

The state should continue to provide financial assistance to those schools that install sprinkler systems, but it must go further. All of Pennsylvania's college students must be protected from catastrophic fires, and installing sprinklers in every dormitory and Greek house in the state is an important step toward that goal.

The state should provide whatever subsidies are needed to make it feasible for every one of Pennsylvania's colleges and universities to equip their residences with sprinklers. The cost will be high, but the benefits are measurable in saved lives.

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