On September 20th, Kent State University Students were fearing for their lives when a four-foot

wooden spool of electrical wire came tumbling down the roof of the library onto students. The
event left over $5,000 in damage not including the estimate of damage caused to a 19-year-old
freshman student’s car when the spool rolled 125 feet into the main parking lot, crashed into the
vehicle and halted to a stop. “I was just walking from my class back to my dorm, when I saw that
big spool-thing fly off the library! It was crazy!” says Mary Spicer, the vehicle's owner. “Students
were running everywhere. It bounced down the walkway between the library and the student
center and just smashed right into my car! My dad is going to kill me. It wasn’t even supposed to
be parked there, but I couldn’t find a spot. I’m just glad I wasn’t in there when it happened.”

Luckily, no one was injured in the event, but students were terrified and confused. According to
Eric Mansfield, Assistant Vice President of University Communications and Marketing at Kent
State University, “The power company had a crew up on the roof of the library stringing wire
from the spool. We have had some electrical trouble in the building, so they were up there
working on it. They had stopped for lunch at around 11:30, so nobody was up there when the
spool rolled off. Obviously we are going to keep looking into this. We don’t know why the thing
rolled off the roof. And we are not happy this happened. That spool loaded with wire weighed
300 or 400 pounds and our library is 12 stories high. Falling from that height, that spool really
could have killed somebody. I am so thankful it didn’t.”

Apart from the student’s car, a fountain pipe was damaged. There were also several blocks of
cracked concrete and multiple broken plants. University students and staff alike were shaken by
the event. While most were just happy to be uninjured, Justin Johnson, a Junior, has anger
fueling his emotions. “I think it’s ridiculous. I mean someone could have been killed. I hope they
go after that crew that was up there. I mean, how do you leave that thing up there and not make
sure it’s secure? How hard is that? I’m so glad nobody was hurt. It was the scariest thing I’ve
ever seen. It was out of control.” The crew working with the spool currently hasn’t been
interviewed. The event has caused outbursts of fear, relief and anger. While some are happy the
situation came to close, others believe there needs to be a bigger call to action.