My dad told me about the house this morning :( I'm glad that noone was seriously hurt. The Beta house is on the edge of Athens as you go out and has a lot of other buildings around it, so, I'm happy that no other buildings were damaged.

Oh, I was told that it did $350,000 dollars in damage..that'll put a dent in their bank account..

Halogen lamps are scary. I've been a dorm counselor for a while, and at the beginning of each term, we have to watch a training video about the dangers of halogen bulbs. Allegedly, they can get up to 1,500 degrees Celsius, and curtains and tapestries are almost always in their paths. Our school is actually really hardcore against them--my roomie freshman year had one, and during annual room inspections, they confiscated and destroyed it, and charged her $25. I thought that the housing corps of most Greek organizations outlawed them, too.

Sweathrt,

I suspect you misspoke. The Beta House is on the edge of Campus, but pretty much in the middle of town -- only a block from Court and Union Streets which is where the campus meets the town at the corner of the College Green. (welcome to rural America) Before the Route 33 bypass was built, Congress Street, on which the house is located, was the original Southbound Route 33 through Athens, and is still a fairly heavily used street due to the one-way street system which is so befuddling until you get used to it. Congress street turns into President Street for one block and then becomes Richland Avenue. The old Delt Shelter (where I pledged) was at the corner of President and Richland, right at the top of the bridge.

The Bromley Hall we keep mentioning was originally a privately owned dorm which was built when I was on campus. It was real luxury in those days, with air conditioning and an indoor swimming pool. It was purchased by the university a couple years ago. It is also by far the tallest building in Athens (at a whole 8 stories!). That's why I asked in my very first post if it had been damaged.

End of the Athens geography lesson.

It is on the outskirts of uptown athens, but there's lots more to athens than OU.

I think they will be ok moneywise. They have a lot of rich alums who love their chapter. I think that even though it occured during finals week (which is the worst time ever to have a fire) it's also good that it happened now instead of the middle of the quarter because now they have 5 and 1/2 weeks to assess the damage, find other places to live, get things replaced, and fix some of the damage.

This link provides an update including picture of the house. Classes reopened 1-6-03.

http://thepost.baker.ohiou.edu/archi...010602/n5.html