Trafalgar Two: Delays and promises

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT SGOTTO

Students in Sheridan’s new residence are disappointed with bugs and delays that they hoped would have been resolved when they moved in last summer.

Glitches in the laundry room and ongoing construction have many irked. Others complain about the kitchens.

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“We’ve been waiting for the kitchens forever and I find it’s ridiculous when we’re already paying so much money to live here,” said resident Alyssia Anagnostakos.

The kitchens, while they are equipped with stoves and sinks currently, have undergone several renovations this semester.

“We had to remove the cabinetry at one point,” said director of residence Bernie Dwyer. “In the summer, we had been asked to update the kitchens with hood suppressions, and that wasn’t required when we first built the building.”

Residence does plan to add the suppression hoods over Christmas break and additionally include seating and table space to the kitchens.

The new residence laundry card system has also seen its fair share of hiccups, but is just about ready to roll out.

The old system had student’s use a laundry card with a chargeable balance to pay machines. Residents will soon be able to pay for washing using their onecards.

“We did run into a snag. We had an issue with getting the declining balance to work on the onecard,” said Dwyer. “We really hoped we would have solved this by October. We didn’t expect it to take as long as it has.”

Residence officials issued temporary laundry cards with $20 balances, but in October there weren’t enough to go around.

“My roommate had to buy a laundry card but they ran out,” said resident Skylar Normington. “They told her to get a card from TRA1 but she already had a load of wet laundry she needed to dry. It was just a hassle.”

The onecard laundry system is slated to be in place in mid-to-late January.

Other residents are unhappy about the ongoing noise of construction.

“The vehicles can get pretty noisy,” said resident Hannah Wells. “It just sucks when you have to wake up early for class and get less sleep because of it.”

The construction, which has been ongoing for almost a year and a half, is on track to come to a finish in the next few months.

Dorm officials are in talks to move construction hours an hour or two ahead in the mornings to cut down on noise.

Also in talks is residence’s controversial overnight guest fee. Students are charged $5 for visitors signed in from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. It’s not something all college or university residences charge for.

“It’s a mixed bag with overnight fees,” said Dwyer. “Some campuses do it, some don’t. It’s a fee that we’ve always had in place, but where will it be in the future? I’m not sure. It’s definitely something we review every year.”

Dwyer thanks students for their patience as the dormitory staff work to resolve the problems.

“We’ve been given a lot of patience with the students,” said Dwyer. “And if they can give us a little bit more, we hope to improve the building even further.”