The Good 5 Cent Cigar

Issue date: 2/9/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Teresa Kelly Students living in Door residence hall are warned against potential flooding.

02/09/10 - After losing power campus- wide only a few weeks ago, University of Rhode Island students are still having problems with on campus housing.

The university lost power Jan. 29 throughout campus, after a tree landed on a main line in South Kingstown, just south of the campus itself.

David Graves, spokesperson for URI's electricity provider, National Grid, said the main line feeds the entire campus. He said removing the tree and restoring power to the transmission line only took about an hour and a half.

Sophomore Carissa Johnson said half of her dorm room in Hopkins residence hall didn't have electricity for three days.

"This did not get in the way of my studies, but it was annoying to unplug certain things." Johnson said.

She said she had to walk to the library to get her work done.

The electrical outage isn't the only problem with on campus housing at the university.

Sophomore Kayla Nastari said the shower in her dorm had a leaky showerhead and was freezing cold in the beginning of the semester. She said it has caused puddles on the floor after showering.

"For all the money we pay to live here I am not impressed," Nastari said. "We should not be having these continuous problems."

Next year she plans to live off campus and feels this is a much better deal and that she will see better results.

"As soon you walk into Coddington [Hall] you can tell that it is outdated," Nastari said. "The university should use some of the [students'] tuition money to renovate the older dorms."

Sophomore Keith Hebert said that he enjoys the convenience of living on campus, but still finds the dorms problematic.

"I don't like living in Burnside," he said. "It's a dirty building."

Hebert said it seems as though the athletes get the nicer dorms, such as Eddy Hall, and that they fill up much faster. He also said living on campus would attract more people if the school renovated the older dorms.

Hebert said he hasn't had any major problems with his dorm, but "C" tower in Coddington Hall flooded over break. His friends also found mold in their bathroom.

Dave Lamb, utilities engineer of Facility Services said that the flood in "C" tower was due to the pipes freezing in the resident hall. There was no one in the building to report that the heat was not working.

"This has only happened three times since the 1960's when the resident hall was built," Lamb said.

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