Students are frustrated by ongoing construction and water-related issues in United Methodist Hall.
Flooded floor
Construction began after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake Sept. 8 in Pawnee, Oklahoma, resulted in a broken pipe that flooded the dorm’s fourth floor officials said.
Construction workers assessed the damage and conducted water tests and moisture ratings that morning.
Three weeks later, work still is ongoing and students say they’ve seen little progress.
“I’ve been seeing a lot of work on Methodist for the flooding, but it’s really slow work,” said Cassandra Velasco, cell and molecular biology junior.
“They started fixing things, and then they just sort of left it. The ceilings tiles aren’t in place and the floor is just sort of lifted in spots.
“They’re just not working on it anymore, and I guess they’ve moved on to other things. It’s still not a fixed problem.”
Maintenance work
Kevin Culbertson, coordinator of housing operations, said work still is being done and all rooms with tenants have been repaired. The last step is putting back ceiling tiles and painting the walls.
“Residents will be seeing some maintenance crews coming in and patching holes,” Culbertson said. “There are just some very minor inconveniences. It won’t be too loud or disruptive.”
Chandler Hardy, economics/mass communications junior, and Keziah Williamson, acting senior, were moved out of their room due to significant flood damage.
They were told their room would be restored, and they would be moved in by now, but the students instead were transferred to a different floor for the remainder of the semester.
Maintenance crews are working on replacing the flooring in the evacuated rooms, Culbertson said.
“Everyone’s been very cooperative,” he said. “By the end of the week, we should be done, and you wouldn’t even know there was a flood.”
More water issues
New problems have arisen in Methodist Hall since the flood. Students now are coping with extremely hot temperatures in their showers. Residents are reporting burns on their skin due to unusually hot water.
Velasco said students began seeing issues about a week ago.
“You can’t turn on any of your faucets without scalding hot water coming out,” Velasco said.
“I have to set my shower to the lowest possible cold setting, otherwise I’m burning my flesh off. I literally come out with red and hurting skin. If you accidentally turn on the hot water in the sink first, you’re done. You’re burned.”
Culbertson said he spoke with maintenance crews about the hot water, and it is thought that a thermostat was shifted on the steamline that caused the water’s rising temperature. He said workers reviewed the issue and the hot water should be back to normal.
Culbertson stressed the importance of filing work orders for these types of issues.
“We can’t fix it if we don’t know about it,” he said.
Students can submit work orders through their resident assistants or through myschoolbuilding.com. The organization account number is 746615915 and can be found at okcu.edu with more instructions.
Lack of communication
Residents also are frustrated because housing officials have not informed them about any of the repairs.
In regard to the flood, housing officials have kept students informed who were moved out of their dorms, but not residents whose rooms were not affected, Culbertson said.
“There’s really no sense in us keeping someone up-to-date who’s on the opposite end of the building who has no need to know,” Culbertson said.
“It’s nice to keep those folks informed of what’s going on, but, as far as our resources go, we want to have more of a personal connection with those who were actually affected.”
Regarding the hot water, Culbertson said he would send out an email if he found that the problem was larger. He said, as far as he knows, it was just a regulation issue.
Previous years
Velasco said she thinks communication with residents was better last academic year.
“I really don’t appreciate it,” she said. “I feel like it’s an attempt to make things look better instead of addressing the problems, but it just makes it worse.”
The shift in communication could be the result of managerial and staff changes this academic year, Velasco said. She said she wants to be informed of work ongoing in the dorm.
“At least that way you know that it’s not just you and it’s something that’s being addressed,” she said.
“I thought it was just my shower, and then I asked my roommate, and I asked people down the hall, and, so far, it seems like our entire floor is having this problem.”
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