The_Rambler_1990-02-13

              Students Speak Out
Page 2
Five Pages of Valentines
Personals insert & Page 11
Rampage Literary
Section Insert
Volume 60, Number 14 SUNY College of Technology at Formingdale February 13,1990
Flamblep
Tlie Conditions of Dorm IVIaintenance
By Steve Conley
For the last six months, the dorm conditions of
SUNY Farmingdale have become a hot topic. This atten-tion
has been, for the most part, owed to Suffolk Hall and
in particular, the Suffolk Hall Dorm Council. The Admini-stration
has recognized and reacted to this influx of activity
with credible results.
In a November meeting with administration,
housing, and physical plant officials, this reporter heard the
flip-side of the issue. John Disenka, Director of the Physi-cal
Plant, Dr. Samuel Taube, Vice President of Student
Affairs, Terry Esnes, then Acting Director or Residence
Life and Don Kelley, Acting Resident Director of Suffolk
Hall and Staff Assistant for Maintanence and Operations,
were in attendance at the November meeting.
Students have complained about unpainted walls,
vandalized fumittire, and multiple locks with identical
keys. The two buildings which generated the most outcries
for assistance were Suffolk and Nassau dormitories.
This meeting occurred just after a Suffolk Hall
letter was printed in the Rambler making Suffolk the focus
of most of the discussion.
It has been surmised by the former President of
the Suffolk Hall Dorm Council, William Moore, that some
dorms are given priority over other dorms in terms of
upkeep and upgrades. Moore went as far to say that Suffolk
Hall is "Neglected" and a "Third World Society". Some
basis for Moore's statement rests in granting of new lamps
and furniture to Alumni & Memorial dorms.
The allegations of favoritism or elitism, as Taube
claimed, are "Just not true."
The dormitories are renovated in cyclical man-ner.
Once a dorm's renovation is completed, the physical
plant and administration turn their attentions to the next
building. Since Memorial and Alumni had just undergone
repairs, the administration decided to furnish those two
dorms with the 200 new lamps that they had received in
order to consider those dorms completed.
The next buildings to receive repairs are Lehmen;
Dewey, Hughes, and then Smith.
It was also stated that Suffolk and Nassau were
the first dorms to be renovated. John Disenka said "..just
under600,000 dollars were put into the two dorms (Suffolk
and Nassau) in 1986." Some improvement which were
made include the removal and replacement of l)ie lavato-ries,
new tiling, and reconstruction of the hallways, instal-lation
of new fire alarms and the installation of vertical
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FARMINGDALE, NY ^
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111-
blinds. The renovations, now five years past, are no longer
evident.
With a cyclical system, it is possible that Memo-rial
and Alumni will be issuing complaints similar to those
from Nassau and Suffolk in four or five years.
Deterioration of a dormitory in such an acceler-ated
fashion is due to two factors: an inactive Residence
Hall Director and vandalism.
A Residence Hall Director (R.D.) is responsible
for a specific dormitory. It is this person's responsibility to
maintain acceptable living conditions in their dorm by
processing and organizing repairs through the Residence
Life Office and, eventually, the Physical Plant It was
suggested that the condition of Suffolk and Nassau Hall's
disrepair may be due to inadequate R.D.s.
Nassau Hall was without an R.D. for the begin-ning
of the Fall 1989 semester. It was necessary that
Nassau shared a director with Dewey Hall. Suffolk's R.D.
retired recently and was unavailable for comment. Kelley
said, "a Residence Hall is only as good as it's director!"
Effective R.D.s can also prevent a major student
concern, double billing. Double billing is when a^ttident is
charged twice for the same repair. Esnes said, "If the R.D.s
Smith Hall (Above) & N
are effectively doing their paperwork in terms of building
condition, room condition reports and assessing common
area damage and following up...students won't be put in
the position of being double-billed."
Vandalism is the largest single factor in the disre-pair
of a dormitory. Suffolk Hall has had it's fair share of
vandalism but not the most. Kelley indicated that vandal-ism
is more frequent in Hughes and Smith (in that order)
than in Suffolk.
This dormitory destruction takes many forms.
Some notable messes include shot-out windows, vomit in
Ijathrooms, and destroyed furniture. It is actions like these
that frustrate and hinder the physical plant in it's pursuit to
create a suitable living environment in the dormitories.
When the custodian didn't do a great job cleaning
up the vomit, the student^ were irate. Esnes said, "I've
spoken with the custodian and told him very clearly he is
not expected to clean this (the vomit) up! It's not what the
custodians are here for." Taube suggested that students
Please See Dorm Condintions
visiting WIters Program At SUNY Farmingdale . Spring 1990
Featured Writer: Quincy Troupe Thursday, February 16 • Little Theatre, Roosevelt Hall • 1 l am
Quincy Troupe is Professor of American and Third World Literature at the College of Staten Island (CUNY).
He is the author of Miles: The Autobiography (1989). the definitive life story of jazz great Miles Davis,
and has published 3 books of poetry and several anthologies.