A Rieber resident accidentally fell a story and a half from her
third-story window early Saturday morning onto the roof of the
dining hall, but was not seriously injured, university police
said.
Police said the resident Theresa Oda-Burns, a first-year
undeclared student and a member of the UCLA women’s soccer team was
taken to the UCLA Medical Center as a precautionary measure.
"I’m fine. I don’t have any injuries, I have one tiny scrape on
my elbow, Oda-Burns said in a telephone interview.
Several residents heard Oda-Burns fall and waited with her until
an ambulance arrived.
"I heard a thump, a giant room-shaking thump outside my room. We
looked outside and we saw someone curled into a ball, on her hands
and knees," said first-year undeclared student David Bresler, who
lives directly below Oda-Burns on the second floor and jumped onto
the dining hall roof to her aid.
Oda-Burns said she had returned from a party, still under the
influence of alcohol, and decided to get some fresh air. She sat on
the ledge below her window before losing balance and falling.
The window screens on the third floor of Rieber, where Oda-Burns
lives, can be slid off. Removing screens is against housing policy,
an infliction that can result in a $50 fine.
"She fell right outside my window. She was sitting there holding
her head and crying for help," said first-year international
development studies student Helen Cheng.
Though Oda-Burns was able to stand within minutes, she did
complain of back pains, Bresler said.
Oda-Burns, who goes by the nickname Micky, was helped back into
a second-floor room through the window, where she was examined by
paramedics on a dorm-room bed, Bresler said.
"(The paramedics) were pretty much going to let her go but they
thought it would be better if they checked her out (at the
hospital)," Bresler said.
Oda-Burns was described by her floor’s program assistant Adriana
Ahumada, a second-year international development studies and
political science student, as a model resident.
The incident was the second case of a student falling from a
dorm window. Last week, a resident fell out of her window on the
second floor of Saxon, university police said.