Spring Break
Campus reacts to death of educator
Son Hoang
Issue date: 10/5/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
10/05/04 - The University of Rhode Island is still reacting to the death last week of David B. Wallace, College of Environmental and Life Sciences cooperative extension educator.
"We're all shocked and sad," said Marion Gold, research associate for CELS. "Everybody just feels very badly. He was a wonderful man."
Wallace, who had been employed by URI since 1975, was found dead Thursday morning in the woods near Flagg Road. Wallace's cause of death is still under investigation.
Gold said Wallace had been "having difficulty over the past few years. He had been out on sick leave quite a bit. We miss him. He was a great guy. He always had a nice joke for people."
She added that a memorial fund was established in memory of Wallace.
"His wife asked that donations be made to the Dave Wallace Plant Protection Clinic Fund, which was just set up through the URI Foundation, because he really loved his work and that gave him a lot of happiness."
Student reaction to Wallace's death has been one of confusion and curiosity.
"I find this really weird," senior Alexander Brown said. "It's a little scary having a dead body found on campus and no details given out other than that he was found near his car. I think if it was a heart attack or something natural, they would have announced it right away."
"I think it's so crazy," freshman Shana Leffingwell said. "I just read 'Body found near Flagg Road' [in The Good 5 Cent Cigar], and you don't really ever hear about things like this here."
Despite the announcement by URI Police and the medical examiner that there didn't appear to be any foul play in Wallace's death, students are still concerned.
"I think it's kind of disturbing that they don't really know the cause of death yet and they don't seem to be worried about it," junior Tamara Mangelo said.
Freshman Jamie Kaye agreed, saying, "It's just weird not knowing anything. It was just like, 'Hey, they found a dead body.' We don't really know what happened. They're could be a killer on the loose, you never know."
"The article [in The Good 5 Cent Cigar] seemed very calm," junior Kristen Kron said. "It was like, 'They found a body, everything's fine. Don't worry about it.'"
Freshman Grant Leuchtner said, "The idea that if someone was deceased, and nobody knew about it until the parking guys stumbled across it is kind of unnerving."
Leuchtner added, "But it doesn't seem like there's any immediate danger to anyone else. It doesn't look like many details about the death were released, so I'm not sure. I personally am not really concerned for my safety because it's a big campus with a lot of kids."
Freshman Michael Dwyer agreed, saying, "It's more likely that people won't be killed on campus. It's seems like a very rare thing. I've lived in Rhode Island my whole life, and stuff like this mostly only happens in Providence or Newport. Nobody should be scared here."
"We're all shocked and sad," said Marion Gold, research associate for CELS. "Everybody just feels very badly. He was a wonderful man."
Wallace, who had been employed by URI since 1975, was found dead Thursday morning in the woods near Flagg Road. Wallace's cause of death is still under investigation.
Gold said Wallace had been "having difficulty over the past few years. He had been out on sick leave quite a bit. We miss him. He was a great guy. He always had a nice joke for people."
She added that a memorial fund was established in memory of Wallace.
"His wife asked that donations be made to the Dave Wallace Plant Protection Clinic Fund, which was just set up through the URI Foundation, because he really loved his work and that gave him a lot of happiness."
Student reaction to Wallace's death has been one of confusion and curiosity.
"I find this really weird," senior Alexander Brown said. "It's a little scary having a dead body found on campus and no details given out other than that he was found near his car. I think if it was a heart attack or something natural, they would have announced it right away."
"I think it's so crazy," freshman Shana Leffingwell said. "I just read 'Body found near Flagg Road' [in The Good 5 Cent Cigar], and you don't really ever hear about things like this here."
Despite the announcement by URI Police and the medical examiner that there didn't appear to be any foul play in Wallace's death, students are still concerned.
"I think it's kind of disturbing that they don't really know the cause of death yet and they don't seem to be worried about it," junior Tamara Mangelo said.
Freshman Jamie Kaye agreed, saying, "It's just weird not knowing anything. It was just like, 'Hey, they found a dead body.' We don't really know what happened. They're could be a killer on the loose, you never know."
"The article [in The Good 5 Cent Cigar] seemed very calm," junior Kristen Kron said. "It was like, 'They found a body, everything's fine. Don't worry about it.'"
Freshman Grant Leuchtner said, "The idea that if someone was deceased, and nobody knew about it until the parking guys stumbled across it is kind of unnerving."
Leuchtner added, "But it doesn't seem like there's any immediate danger to anyone else. It doesn't look like many details about the death were released, so I'm not sure. I personally am not really concerned for my safety because it's a big campus with a lot of kids."
Freshman Michael Dwyer agreed, saying, "It's more likely that people won't be killed on campus. It's seems like a very rare thing. I've lived in Rhode Island my whole life, and stuff like this mostly only happens in Providence or Newport. Nobody should be scared here."
