Reading this part of the story heavily reminded me of "Nightfall" by Asimov. Anybody else see the similarity? Sam?

Other than both stories featuring repeated disasters, I'd say there's very little resemblance.

Sam0wn3d!
Also, no Asimov references I see(at least not to that)
very good series- ties in to fine structure nicely. Once fine structure is done you've got to try and sell it- if you could only get your first break and become a writer...
Comeon- you owe it to Clarke.

Is there anyway to indicate that this story in Fine Structure is actually a set of stories (like a folder hierarchy)?

I can't believe it took me until now to get the significance of this section's title. Nifty.