The Collegian

Issue date: 9/5/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Zack Farmer Francesca Golia '08 says her Guerreri East toilet (pictured above) has not been completely installed and makes sitting down a doozy.

Media Credit: Zack Farmer This lockless door leads to two students' personal dorm rooms...

When coming onto campus for the first time this school year, eager juniors and seniors looked forward to a great start in the newly remodeled lower townhouses (Thille, Freitas, Guerrieri East, and Guerrieri West). After pondering about the one painted accent wall in each of the rooms, they were taken aback by the incomplete suites.

"The kitchens in Guerrieri East and Guerrieri West were not completed as of Sunday, August 26 when the residence halls opened," said Associate Dean of Student Life Scott Kier.

"The residents of Guerrieri East and Guerrieri West have been provided a carte blanche meal plan until September 7 when final installation of the new kitchen appliances will be complete," he said.

Of these Guerrieri residents, some found their stove unit in the middle of their living rooms and their drawers and cabinets nonexistent.

These residents received a letter which read, "Dear Resident of Guerrieri East/West, [w]elcome to your newly renovated town house. As you may have noticed, the kitchen in your suite is not completed. We will have installed all new stoves and cabinets by Friday, September 7. We apologize for this inconvenience, and have made the following arrangements. You have been credited with a carte blanche meal plan from today through September 7. You will have full access to Oliver Hall's dining options during this period."

"The first phase of residence hall renovations is due for completion September 7, 2007," said Kier. "Other significant upgrades to residence halls are planned over the next few years. They include newly painted rooms, kitchen remodels, state-of-the-art laundry services and new telephone lines."

Aside from the Guerrieri townhouses, Thille and Freitas were also left-albeit to a lesser degree-unfinished, but without similar accommodations for the residents.

When making his way up to Saint Mary's, Freitas resident JoseLuis Cordoba '08 expected his townhouse "to be finished before we got here-to have our ovens plugged in and be functional." At the time of publication, Freitas remained incomplete. "We're missing deadbolts. We need those for security-I've been robbed once, I don't want it to happen again," said Cordoba.

"We have holes in the doors [where the deadbolts should be]. There's no safety or privacy. One of us doesn't even have a regular lock-what the hell is the point? It's a safety issue. I've sent in three work orders for the deadbolts and they haven't done anything," said Cordoba.

"I didn't expect that they'd remodel everything," said Cordoba's suitemate, Diego Alfaro '08. As a Guerrieri East resident at the end of last year, "they charged us for kitchen counters that were broken and furniture that was scratched, then they just turned around and put everything that was broken in the trash-into the wood shredder."

Alfaro appreciates the new furnishings, however, felt slighted that he had to pay damage fees for materials that went straight into the trash, rather than being refurnished or repaired using the fees that he and his suitemates had paid.

Cordoba reflected many residents' irritation with the incomplete work. He said, "I figure they had all summer to do it. I know it's a lot of construction…but I figure it should be done by this point." The Internet does not work in his room and there is only one Ethernet jack for his double room, "I've got to share a jack with my roommate," Cordoba said.

Several rooms remain without functional stoves and their residents express frustration as "we have to depend on [Sodexho]," said Cordoba. Cordoba and Alfaro were informed that their stove is now plugged in, however, "We don't know if it's done or not; we're afraid to test it out."

"Our kitchen doesn't work still. They just put in the drawers, but not the cabinets," said Francesca Golia '08, a Guerrieri East resident. "My room is the only one where the Internet works. None of our rooms had phones. Two of my roommates put in work orders because we didn't have towel racks. Our toilet moves when you sit on it because it's not glued down. Our fridge didn't work at first-it wasn't even cold, but it works now. All they did was came in and put in drawers, but not even all of them."

As a Guerrieri East resident, Golia currently has unlimited access into Oliver Hall for meals, "but [Sodexho]'s so gross, so I don't even eat there," she said. "Last time I went, I only had yogurt and granola."

"Last year, I lived in Ageno East. It was so much nicer-even after these renovations here," said Golia who lived in a triple last year. "In the Agenos, there are two bathrooms-the shower and the toilet are separated-it really made a difference and it was bigger with less people living there."

"The fact that we don't get a microwave and all the Agenos do isn't fair and we pay more for these townhouses." However, she said, "It's nice that we have carpet and that not everything's messed up and stinking. I just wish it had been done over the summer." Golia said that the touching up is not currently interfering with her school work and study habits, she just finds it irksome.

Cordoba also finds the silver lining, "I like the AC. Everything's new, everything's clean, the sliding doors work, because a lot of the sliding doors didn't work last year," he said. "The only thing is we can't mess anything up, otherwise we've got to pay for it."

Another Freitas resident, Dorian Hernandez '09, said, "I like the fact that it was new but after move-in week, everything started falling apart-the curtains almost fell on my head when I tried to open the window." Hernandez also said, "They're pretty nice overall. I like the air conditioning."

"It was clean, very clean. Of course it's nice to have everything new and clean," said Alfaro. However, he suspects that these renovations are a way for the College to track down and target party hotspots.

"Every building is painted a different color so Public Safety can track down where all the partying is happening. It limits the whole social construct of Saint Mary's College now."

Alfaro theorizes that should students take party photos alongside one of these accented walls and post them on Facebook, Public Safety can easily identify the corresponding townhouse and narrow their hotspot search.

On the bright side, Alfaro said, "I liked the new counters and the bathroom and the new furniture. Everything's new. What's better than new?"

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