....
Also- last I've heard, all heat in Co. 3 has been restored. CO 2 detectors in all companys have been installed. It's back to normal.
Yep, it's back to normal and that's EXACTLY the problem. "Normal" is an incompetent maintenance staff, led by an incompetent MARAD Administrator at the top of the chain.
The issue was caused by a maintenance staff that improperly installed the ductwork, that led to negatively pressured buildings and that's why the midshipmen in Barry Hall were and are lucky to be alive this morning. This is the same maintenance staff led by a facilities leadership that has known for years there were no CO monitors in the dorms, despite the fact that NY State Laws say there should have been. From my perspective, no matter what happened back when these buildings were renovated there really is no reason something wasn't done sooner. As you can see from the contents of this thread and the numerous acronyms involved in the finger pointing and assessments of who, why, and how. This is exactly the bureaucratic two-step I was alluding to and afraid of when I heard the Administrator had spent the night there. I don't care whether he left early. That doesn't matter. Now there's a $30 consumer grade CO detector in my son's room, as there are in the rooms of other sons and daughters. That's a start but just a start and not much of one. Do you really think if the maintenance staff wasn't competent in their installation of one duct it was a single anomaly? I hope it was, but what is being done to check ann ensure that all the buildings on campus are properly ducted and pressurized? What is the schedule to make sure that happens and what are the other measures being taken to make sure all personnel, especially, "the precious cargo" at USMMA, it's Regiment of Midshipmen are properly cared for and safe, every minute of every day.
This incident, where a bullet was clearly dodged, needs to be a tremendous wake-up call. The days of an incompetent maintenance staff whining about the work they now have to do to put in place CO detectors while the Midshipmen were actually poisoned and could have died; or a galley staff not making sure that at least once annually large groups of the Regiment of Midshipmen get food poisoning must come to an end now. The days of an incompetent MARAD legal staff meddling in the operations of the USMMA and coming up with reasons why things like receiving and accepting gifts or charging for attendance at NCAA Division III football games cannot be done, while at every other Federal Service Academy they are done, need to come to an end as well. Many, many of the issues are tied to funding issues but these excuses and obstacles need to be flattened. I could go on but I believe I would be preaching to the choir so I will not do so. I will just restate the obvious.
Normal can no longer be good enough. At least 40 of us sets of parents are fortunate this morning to still have sons and daughters at the Academy and on their way towards graduation and bright futures as part of our Nation's best and brightest. This MUST be as the President who appointed Administrator Matsuda says "a teachable moment". In other words a wake up call and a catalyst for rapid change for the better.
I have nothing further to add to this thread so will likely comment no further on it. I also know this is just "one man's opinion", my feelings here do not mean that as a supportive and active alumni, as well as a parent, I am wavering in my support of the USMMA, I am not and will not. That said, I also think the time has come to be less of "cheerleader" and more of an involved contributor to the positive changes that absolutely need to occur to move the institution forward towards what it should and can be - the world's foremost center for Maritime Education and Higher Learning, that's why I hope we don't "return to normal" ever again.
