Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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Burning memories continued damaged areas included financial aids, admissions and the reg- istrar ' s and graduate offices. Owens held a meeting for University employees Wednesday morning following the fire. In an THE SWITCHERS LAY in ruin in the TV studios. Although the entire TV studio was a total loss, some equipment was salvaged from the adjacent radio stations, KDLX KXCV effort to lift morale and retain a normal routine, Owens assured everyone, It is not a tragedy, just a disaster; and everything is business as usual. Insurance eligibility seemed to be on the top of the list in dealing with the aftermath of the fire. Missouri has a policy where all state buildings are self- insured, said University Treas- urer Don Henry. A government official said there was adequate legislation for emergency situ- RICHT BEFORE HE toured the damaged Ad Building, Gov Joseph Teasdale held a press conference. During it he said h e would do all he could to get the University the money it needed to repair the structure ations and that he could cut down on some red tape if necessary. But Henry ' s optimistic state- ment backfired when Gov. Joseph Teasdale said he had never heard of such a thing and that actually there was no insurance on the structure of the building, only on some of its contents. Less than 48 hours after the fire, Teasdale toured the building with Owens, his staff and the local media. At this time the governor pledged to help obtain $20,000 in emergency state funds for the University to plan repairs. Teas- dale came through with his promise when the leaders of the legislature agreed to appropriate the $20,000 in late July. Teasdale said the rest of the funds would have to be appro- priated by the 1980 Missouri General Assembly, which opened its session in January. I want everything studied so we won ' t have a year or two delay in remedying this situation. We can cut through the red tape by getting me involved, Teasdale said. While Teasdale was looking for dollars, Behrendson and Strieker were looking for evidence. After a thorough investigation, the source of the fire was pinpointed in a 20- to 25-foot area above the speech department ' s audio testing lab- oratory. Both men thought the fire started on the fourth floor above a false ceiling. However, the exact continued PRESIDENT B.D OWENS shows Gov Joseph Teasdale the damage the fire caused, Teasdale promised to help get $20,000 in emergency state funds for the University. -Dave Cieseke •-i5£i i »

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il- •Frank W Mercer APPROXIMATELY 150 PROFESSIONAL and volunteer firemen fought the blazing fire until 4 am. The west section of the building was destroyed quickly, leaving firemen to defend the east wing of the building THE DAY AFTER THE FIRE, University officials discuss the damage with State Fire Marshal Tom Behrendson Behrendson ' s investigation pinpointed the fire to electrical failure. FIRE 27

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THE STATUE OF Abraham Lincoln stands unharmed at the entrance to the Frank Deerwester Theater. Although the statue was not damaged, the Theater was a total loss in the fire AFTER THE FIRE, Bob Henry, Tom Meyers and Dwight Lane move equipment out of the damaged building All the offices in the Ad Building were relocated throughout campus. FIRE 29