Major renovation happening in residential life this year
We all like to whine and complain about the conditions of the dorms. It keeps some from becoming too complacent with our living conditions. Whining can also help give a false hope that, someday, we could be living in as luxurious estates as we grew accustomed to in our infancy. Others might find the whining recreational, a way to keep limber. Whatever the reason, it is often hard to believe that some big wig with a long title and big, empty desk in Logan isn’t pocketing our housing and student fees.
This archived article was written by: Seth Richards
We all like to whine and complain about the conditions of the dorms. It keeps some from becoming too complacent with our living conditions. Whining can also help give a false hope that, someday, we could be living in as luxurious estates as we grew accustomed to in our infancy. Others might find the whining recreational, a way to keep limber. Whatever the reason, it is often hard to believe that some big wig with a long title and big, empty desk in Logan isn’t pocketing our housing and student fees.
Upon closer examination, it would seem that this money is actually working for us. In recent months, strides have been taken to create a cleaner, more professional, and more inviting campus than the school has had in a while.
That littered parking lot and untidy lounge you may have seen when you came for an Eagle Experience is a thing of the past, barring such incidences with cooking mishaps and small combustibles as may occur.
Previous tenants of CEU will remember shag carpet in the washroom of Tucker Hall, shoddy blinds in the dorms, fire boxes built under showers with wiring on top, cracks in the walls that may have predated the extinction of the dinosaurs, flooding in the back of Burtenshaw Hall, and erratic temperatures in the dormitories. These are all things of the past, or will hopefully be gone within the foreseeable future.
Officer James Prettyman, campus police and residential life, football field and Durrant field maintenance director, hopes to have the campus sharp and pretty with only regular maintenance work necessary within the next five years.
Working in conjunction with residential life, this could very well be possible. But for all of the rewiring, painting, installation of new boilers, plaques on the doors, changing light fixtures, getting various components up to code, and the seemingly endless list of fixes, repairs, and replacements necessary to make this campus the epitome of beautiful, it’s no walk in the park.
Lighting and safety seem to be a major part of the upgrading of the campus. New fireboxes, exit signs, emergency backup lights, and parking lot lights have either been installed or are on their way to the dormitories. Excess lights and digital temperature control panels are on hand and work orders are being closed in record time, with a few exceptions for those delivered late at night.
A small army of contractors, seasonal grounds people, and students, a group from which the residential life maintenance staff seems anxious to draw more people, provides the labor for all these changes.
Officer Prettyman; Dr. Alex Herzog, associate vice chancellor of student services; and Sharon Jones administrative assistant for student services, have worked long hours to organize this undertaking.
Officer Prettyman said, “Students are paying for this they need the best we can provide.”
So next time you want to gripe about the housing, just remember that your fees are working for you, not always in the most glamorous and visible ways, but you will get your money’s worth one way or another. If you have any suggestions on improving residential life, please call Prettyman. He is alwyas open to suggestions.
