More Thoughts on Gallaudet

Today's Washington Post editorial on "Standoff at Gallaudet" brings up a question. The editorial talks about the administration's frustration in trying to negotiate a peaceful solution with the students only to have them take back their demands once they've been accepted. Last night, President Jordan said he thought they were ready to announce a major breakthrough only to have the student body president rescind his signature. My question is "Is everyone involved in this dispute sitting at the table for these discussions?" Perhaps the students are being advised by either faculty or alumni who are not present at the negotiations. I think it's cowardly of any other persons contributing their voices to the students' unrest to sit back and let the students work things out and then tell them "NO, we won't do that!" Is this what's happening? Or are the student leaders truly incapable of making up their minds or actually leading (in the positive sense) the other students?

Also, I keep seeing fire trucks and emergency vehicles roaring onto the campus here periodically over the past week or so. Are these emergency responders being summoned for actual emergencies? Or are they responding to false alarms such as the two bomb threats? As a citizen of this community, I'm aghast that the DC emergency services, stretched very thin to begin with, might be spending their time rushing over here to Gallaudet if all that's involved is student rebellion.