David E. Sanger

A small crowd had gathered outside Sever Hall, and as Theodore S. Stamas ’82 moved towards the throng of people, he could see his roommate, David E. Sanger ’82, in the middle of the fray.

Sanger, who was reporting for The Crimson, was trying to find out what had happened. Hoping to see if any major developments had occurred, the freshman had spent time asking students and faculty if they had any insight into what might have caused the building’s evacuation.

He soon found his answer: A small fire in the bottom of a trashcan.

“I remember the fact that it wasn’t much of a story,” Stamas recalls with a small chuckle, “but that was my first impression of David as a journalist: covering a wastebasket fire in Sever Hall.”