Getting around campus is already difficult enough with construction and road blocks without pipes bursting and closing down half of the Humanities Building.
A hot water line erupted in the second floor ceiling of the Humanities Building last week, flooding the first and second floor faculty offices as well as closing the Writing Center and restrooms on the first and second floor.
Now, the only entrance into the building is on the east side, and the only available bathrooms are on the third floor.
This inconvenience for students is already aggravating enough, having to trek around campus trying to find a way into class, without even taking into account the displaced faculty.
The displaced faculty leaves problems with students wondering where these faculty members will go. Some of the instructors with offices on the third floor and the ground floor have offered to take in the displaced instructors.
But it still doesn’t guarantee a spot for every instructor. Will some be moved to Cherry Tree Lane near the Technical Arts Building? How long will these faculty members be displaced?
Where will the faculty whose offices are now closed for repairs set up shop? Instructors go through enough trouble as it is to set up office hours for their students, now they’ll have to find somewhere else to meet with them.
There are also faculty members who are reporting instances of falling ill because of toxic chemicals. Now not only are faculty members displaced, but they’re injured and possibly unable to work.
Instructors have been reporting that they are suffering from skin irritation Bob Gann, director of facilities and planning, said. The building is supposed to be a haven for students to learn and grow, not a place from the scene of some B-grade science fiction movie.
How does this happen in a new building? This is unacceptable with the amount of time and money that has gone into the construction here.
The building is only two and a half years old and it is disheartening and scary that something like this can happen here while students and faculty are present.
It makes students wonder how they know they are not inhaling toxins or if the toxins are affecting them and they don’t know it, yet. We should be concerned for the welfare of the instructors, but the safety of the students should also have priority. After all, we’re here for an education, not to be poisoned.
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Damage to the Humanities Building causes inconvenience for all
October 7, 2010
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