Mather Accident Avoided

A Mather House resident suffered minor cuts from broken glass, but managed to hold up a window and prevent it from falling 13 stories to the street below yesterday.

Oscar D. Rojas '95 said he was just getting out of the shower late yesterday morning when he heard a "sound like something breaking" and rushed into his roommate's room in the Mather high-rise to see what was wrong.

"I saw this big five-by-three window just barely hanging on above the sidewalk," Rojas said. "It was hanging there, thirteen stories above the sidewalk, and because it was a Sunday afternoon there were people out."

Rojas, who sustained small cuts on his fingers and left eyebrow, said his main concern was for the pedestrians below.

"I grabbed [the window frame] and yelled for my roommates," he said. "They got a wire hanger and tied it around the window and secured it until an officer came."

Christopher M. Laidlin '95, who lived in the room with the broken window, was at the library when Rojas heard the noise.

Rojas said that the hinged windows in his room frequently rattle on windy days, such as yesterday when the wind gusted form 10 to 15 miles per hour, but that he has never heard of the wind doing such substantial damage.

"Large sheets of glass had fallen out onto the street, and there were pieces just dangling there," he said.

Gregg S. Costantino '95, a roommate who helped to secure the window, said he was drawn to the scene by Rojas yells.

"I just heard someone screaming," he said. "I came running over. The glass inside [the window frame] had broken and shards of glass were falling out already."

The roommates called facilities maintenance and Dunster House Superientendant H. Joseph O'Connor responded to the call. O'Connor and a window repairer helped to secure the window.

They said a similar event had occurred about six months ago, and that the Mather tower windows are in the process of being replaced with safety glass.

The residents of the Mather suite said yesterday they were relieved that no one had been hurt by the falling glass.

"We were just lucky, that's all," Rojas said.