UT campus reeling over yet another student accident

Hours after a candlelight vigil for a University of Tampa student killed by a hit-and-run driver, another UT student was critically injured in a car crash on Davis Islands.

Michelle Sams is in critical condition today at Tampa General Hospital after the car she was in crashed into a concrete garden wall at 523 Erie Ave., police said.

Two other students in the car, Jorge Jimenez and Michael L. Fernand, both 20, were treated and released this morning, a hospital spokesman said.

Sams, 20, and Jimenez were in a car driven by Fernand heading west on West Davis Boulevard at 3:22 a.m. when Fernand lost control, hit a curb and slammed into the concrete wall, police said.

Sams was in the back seat.

The 2009 Volkswagen GTI came to a stop next to the house. No one in the house was injured, police said.

All three students live in dormitories at the UT campus.

Investigators drew blood from Fernand to test for impairment but police said results could take several weeks.

On a campus already hit by the grim news on Monday that student Eric Nicoletti had died after being hit by a car over the weekend, word of the latest accident had not spread widely by this morning, though university officials sent an e-mail to all students, faculty and staff at 9:45 a.m.

Aaron Jacobson was shocked to learn another UT student had been critically injured.

"Good grief," he said. "I met her last year. We're both sophomores. That's horrible."

Jacobson of Sarasota called Sams down-to-earth and a fan of mega concerts such as the recent U2 performance in Tampa.

"I think people are going to be scared. We all drive at night. It could have been any of us," he said.

Students were still in shock over Nicoletti's death, said Jenna Gushue, and now this.

"I'm kind of speechless," she said.

Senior Jeremy Pike said he's never seen a year when such tragedy hit the UT campus.

"Usually once a year there's something bad because of the number of students here. But back-to-back in a week, I've never heard of that," he said.

The latest incident will ripple through the student body, Pike said.

"We're such a tight-knit school. Everything that happens to one of us affects everyone."

The drum beat of bad news is taking a toll, said freshman Molly Ells.

"We're just getting tired of hearing about it. What happened last night shouldn't have happened," she said.

Bob Ruday, dean of students, said he can't recall when tragedy hit the school in such rapid-fire fashion - the death of two students and the severe injuries to Sams all since August.

The university constantly tries to educate students about safety, though that lesson is sometimes difficult to drive home to young students, he said.

"I'm not sure what else we could do except continue to educate students about drinking and driving if alcohol was involved," he said.

This fall, the university started a program with Yellow Cab for students to buy pre-paid cards for taxi rides if they have been drinking.

On Monday night, more than 200 people showed up on the UT campus to attend a vigil for Nicoletti, a 20-year-old student who died that day after he and Cree Riley were struck by a motorist early Saturday.

Riley is in critical but stable condition at TGH.

The driver left the accident scene but turned himself in to police Sunday evening.

The death of Nicoletti comes just over three months after another UT student was killed.

Ryan McCall, a UT cross-country runner, was shot to death Aug. 19 by a mugger near campus. He was walking home with a friend about 3 a.m. when the robber confronted the two.

The friend got away and called for help but the robber shot McCall. The case has not been resolved.