From: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU (Carl J Lydick)
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: Calling all Techers (especially lawyers)
Date: 12 Dec 1992 10:12:12 GMT
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera
Reply-To: carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol1.gps.caltech.edu

Just received the following message from an Old Darb (Eric Eichorn).  Seems our
relationship with the PFD has gone downhill.  Any help would be appreciated
(apologies to Callahanians who don't find the following interesting;  but the
place has enough old Techers it seemed to me appropriate to post this)

(Oh, and just in case you don't recognize the source, this is StM).

From:	MX%"eichorn@violet.berkeley.edu" 1992-12-11 20:59:26.67
To:	CARL
CC:	
Subj:	bonfire from hell

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Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 21:01:19 -0800
From: eichorn@violet.berkeley.edu
To: carl@sol1.gps.caltech.edu
Subject: bonfire from hell


I thought you might be interested in this.  I got it because I'm on a Darb
mailing list.

From stevea@egg.gg.caltech.edu Tue Dec  8 08:45:41 1992
From: Steven C. Anderson <stevea@egg.gg.caltech.edu>
Subject: Meeting tonight
To: dabney@ugcs.caltech.edu
Date: Tue, 8 Dec 92 8:35:35 PST
Cc: stevea@vugg.gg.caltech.edu (Steven Anderson)

There will be a meeting tonight, Tuesday, Dec 8, at 10pm to discuss legal
problems resulting from the bonfire and some costly solutions under
consideration.  The meeting is of interest to all Darbs, as our financial
future over the next couple terms may be strongly affected.  Please attend
the meeting if you had anything to do with or know anything about the
frosh bonfire or if you're concerned about how the house spends its money.

The meeting will be in the Lounge.

-stevea@ugcs



From stevea@ugcs.caltech.edu Wed Dec  9 14:52:48 1992
Subject: Results of last night's meeting
To: dabney@ugcs.caltech.edu
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1992 14:46:47 -0800 (PST)

Hi, all.

Last night, the house decided to appoint a committee of 6 people to pursue
whatever legal defense is necessary, and authorized them to spend up to
$1000 _if necessary_.  It was specifically stipulated that no money should
be spent on a lawyer until friday, and in the meantime we should investigate
what other means we have for our defense.  (Particularily, we should see if
alumni lawyers or Caltech legal counsel could be persuaded to represent us.)

The committee consists of Czr, Steve A, Alf, Len, Antonio Rangel, and Alan.
Please direct any concerns you might have about the form or cost of legal
assistance, or any ideas you might have, or anything else you think we should
think about, to one or more of these representatives.  I at least prefer that
such communication would be by email, since I am absent-minded when I'm tired
and am likely to forget some of the subtleties of your viewpoint if simply
told it.

I would like to assure the House that the committee takes its responsibilities
very seriously, that we will neither spend frivolously nor shirk from taking
important action, and that we are seeking advice and assistance from a wide
range of people to arrive at the best decisions.

Here's hoping.      -stevea



From stevea@egg.gg.caltech.edu Wed Dec  9 18:12:12 1992
From: Steven C. Anderson <stevea@egg.gg.caltech.edu>
Subject: Details regarding last post.
To: dabney@ugcs.caltech.edu
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 92 18:00:37 PST

It seems that there are a lot of alumni in dabney@ugcs who don't get to
read the caltech.house.dabney newsgroup.  So, for their sake, and with
apologies to those of you who've already seen it, here is...

The (1992) Frosh Bonfire Story

Dabney has for many years had a tradition of holding a bonfire near the
beginning of the year in our courtyard.  Since freshpersons have been
responsible for getting the wood and building the fire, it's been called
the Frosh Bonfire.

In recent years, Techers have had some unpleasant interactions with city fire
officials who consider most of our fires inappropriate at best.  They put
out a fire undergraduates set on Del Mar and Wilson a couple years back,
and shortly after they had to deal with an incident in Ricketts,
which involved fireworks and LN2 bombs in an alley hallway.

Anyway, this year our Frosh Bonfire in Dabney House was big enough to be
seen by some neighbors, who called the Pasadena Fire people, who came and were
really pissed.  We immediately put out most of the fire, and they finished
it with their fire hoses.  They demanded that Caltech employees come in to
"lock up" the unburned wood and wet ashes.  They demanded the names of those
responsible for the fire.  We tried very hard to convince them that the fire
was a House event, and they should deal with the House as a whole, but they
found that unacceptable.  They particularily wanted to know who lit the match.

It should be stressed that no damage was caused by the fire.  We sprayed
water on the palm trees and bushes to keep them from catching.  House,
hot tub, etc, were all fine, and no sparks from our fire did any damage in
the neighborhood.

We eventually got together a group of 16 volunteers to be "responsible parties"
and meet with the officials present.  The representatives of the police and
fire departments gave us a stern talking-to about the dangers of big fires so
close to buildings (and about how we were wasting their much-needed resources)
and took down our names for "possible future investigation".

That was the last we heard from them for a long time.  The Deans and BOC are
investigating the conditions of the fire, and have already taken some
disciplinary action where they thought it was appropriate.  We were hoping to
take care of it within Caltech.

Now the police are pursuing their investigation.  They apparently want to
nail somebody for "felony arson".  Kim West, the Director of Residence Life,
(who has been very supportive of arriving at an intraCaltech solution) says
that the police told her they'd start calling people Sunday, December 6, to
ask them to "come down to the station and assist us with our inquiries."
She convinced them to hold off until tuesday, so she could meet with us on
monday, which she did.  At the meeting we made some salient points about
finals week and winter break.  She called them up with these tuesday morning
and convinced them to delay the questioning till January.

If Kim West, Dean Rod Kiewiet, and other administrators can't convince them
not to, it looks like they will interrogate individuals in Dabney House one
at a time until they can find some single person they can call responsible
and lock up for a long time.  (This is much easier to do for felony arson than
it used to be; the definition of arson has been loosened since the insurrection
we had here last April.)

If they start calling us, we will need a lawyer.  Lawyers are generally
expensive, so contributions from alums to the Dabney Legal Defense Fund
would be welcome.  More mail will be sent out about the fund in particular
if it becomes certain we need it.

Caltech legal counsel has made it clear to us that criminal defense of
students is outside their purpose at the institute.

Questions about the fire and what's currently going on may be addressed to:

     Steven Anderson          (Vice-President)
     Caltech Box 437          818-568-8235
     Pasadena CA 91126   stevea@ugcs.caltech.edu

     William Cesarotti   (BOC representative)
     Caltech Box 906          818-584-0604
     Pasadena CA 91126   czr@ugcs.caltech.edu

     Alf Mikula          (President)
     Caltech Box 698          818-792-4899
     Pasadena CA 91126   mikula@ugcs.caltech.edu

Please avoid calling before noon California time, and try not to call this
week because of finals.  Email is by far the preferred form of communication
wherever available.

For those with Caltech newsgroup access, watch for followup discussion and
new developments in the newsgroup caltech.house.dabney.  Updates will be
posted to dabney@ugcs, c.h.d, and the old Darbs' and Scurves' networks when
we have something new and relevant to report.

-stevea@ugcs   Steven Anderson          Dabney Vice-President.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL

Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below).  So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it.  If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.