Apparently these hard economic times are a lot worse than we originally thought.
In fact, these days, it seems that $2,902 doesn’t buy what it used to. A sum that used to buy you reliable heating and hot water, or consistent wireless Internet, just doesn’t pull its own weight anymore. This past Saturday, the heating and hot water services in Roosevelt Quad and three of the buildings in Kelly Quad – namely Baruch, Eisenhower and Dewey – gave out and were not restored until late Monday morning. In addition, the residents of Tabler Quad have been claiming that they’ve had only three or four full days of working internet through the first two weeks of this semester. So, this all begs the following question: “Hey, Campus Residences, what the hell?!”
The Roosevelt Refugees, as we’ve taken to calling them, were caught between a rock and a cold place this weekend when an SB Alert text message on Sunday evening instructed students to find other sleeping arrangements for the night. Many found sanctuary in a sympathetic friend’s suite elsewhere on campus. Some braved the cold settings of their Roosevelt or Kelly rooms and refused to leave. The University offered to bus students to SB Southampton for the night, but we’re being told that few, if any, students took them up on it. The official cause of all this was the need to repair a broken pipe. What we, and many students, want to know is, why wasn’t this fixed earlier when we weren’t all living here?
With regards to Tabler’s missing Internet, one would have imagined that campus services would have repaired the problem within the first few weeks of class. However, students were still reporting sporadic Internet access as late as Monday, February 9. Not even the SINC site in the Tabler Art Center was up and running in any consistent matter. We are being told that the cause of this error lies with the unauthorized wireless routers being used throughout the quad. Considering that every quad is home to dozens, if not more, unauthorized wireless routers, we wonder why the university isn’t more prepared to deal with this. Why did this problem persist for so long?
Look, Campus Residences, we know that Stony Brook is under perpetual construction. It’s even kind of impressive. When we’re feeling generous, we even enjoy likening it to some sort of Classical Roman or Greek drive towards creating the perfect center of learning and power. But, when we’re not feeling super generous, it’s goddamn ridiculous. This isn’t the first time that this chronic construction has caused utility failures. Hell, it isn’t even the twentieth time. Either the contractors who are screwing this up need to be replaced, or you need to knock it off, entirely – especially when it’s the middle of a cold and snowy winter!
We’re encouraging all residents who were displaced by this snafu to write a letter to Campus Residences expressing their disgust. In addition, we’re encouraging each and every resident of Tabler Quad to send an angry email to Campus Residences, as well. That is if your Internet is working when you try to send it. Good luck.
