Plumbing issues in freshman dorm Sanford Hall have caused damages and injuries this semester. There were three incidents over the last six weeks which flooded the basement, ruined the carpet, and caused injuries to two students.
Sewage in the BasementThe first pipe issue was discovered shortly after students returned to school in January. Roots had grown into the sewage line and blocked its flow. The sewage began to back up into Sanford’s basement, which students have nicknamed “The Underground.” Maintenance workers cleared the sewer line of debris, but not before a significant amount of wastewater had backed up into the basement.The basement had recently been refinished and outfitted with new furniture and games using the students’ residence hall dues. According to Dean of Students George Blanc, the university will pay for the replacement of the ruined items.
Broken Washing MachineA leaking washing machine contributed to the injury of Resident Advisor Matt Decker and freshman resident JT Johnson. The machine’s drum cracked sometime over the weekend of Jan. 31.On a washer, the drum collects the water at the end of the rinse cycle and then drains to the drain pipe. The cracked drum allowed water to leak onto the floor. However, rather than pooling in the center of the washing room, the water ran to the wall. From there, it ran down to the first floor and soaked the carpet in the hall.Early in the weekend, Decker slipped on the tiled floor after walking on the wet carpet. When he fell, Decker broke his finger. Before the carpet had dried, Johnson slipped as well. Johnson tore several ligaments in his knee.“This really opened people’s eyes,” said Decker. “Maintenance takes forever to get things fixed. JT might not have been injured if they had taken care of this sooner.”Johnson is a member of both the indoor and outdoor track teams. He has been forced to sit out for the rest of the indoor season and will miss all of the upcoming outdoor season. Doctors have scheduled a surgery on his knee and have told him he will require five to six months of physical therapy.Johnson says he may not return to Methodist next year because he is so disappointed with how the school has handled things.“This injury has ruined my freshman experience,” he said. “I am extremely upset.”Blanc said that the school would reimburse both students for the medical expenses associated with their injuries.
Leaky PipesAnother leaking pipe soaked the same section of carpet that was affected by the washer leaking. This prolonged the water hazard for several more days. Resident Will Terry said he is “annoyed” with the university that “the carpet hasn’t been replaced yet.”According to Blanc, Carpet One will install new carpet in the affected areas when students leave for spring break.Blanc explained that the 50-year-old plumbing in the four oldest residence halls, Sanford, Cumberland, Garber, and Weaver, is beginning to age. The maintenance crew responds to leaks as they happen. However, in order to preempt such leaks, the entire building would have to be gutted and rebuilt. A rebuild such as that is estimated at $5.5 million per building.
Last Updated on Thursday, 12 March 2009 14:49
Vinyl Sales
Monday, 16 February 2009 15:51
Bernard King
Vinyl Sales in Library
Ashley Young: News Editor
Over the years the Davis Memorial Library here at Methodist has collected around 3,000 long play records (LPs). On Sat., Feb. 7, the library began selling these and other donated records.LPs no longer as popular as compact discs (CDs), so the library has decided to sell much of the collection. The majority of the records in the collection are classical, though many donated records include pop, rock, and spoken word albums. The records may be purchased in their original form or in the form of bowls, clocks, and jewelry holders. These sales will give the library free space and money for extra costs. The library will use this money for costs that are outside the regular budget, for things like the furniture in the Novel Brew. LPs were introduced in the late-1940s. The records are 10-12 inches in diameter and play about four songs on either side. In the 1980s, CDs were introduced to the world and changed the music industry forever. CD’s are about half of the diameter of an LP. By the 1990s, large records were a thing of the past. Arleen Fields, Archives Librarian and Coordinator of the record sales said that the library staff had been moving the records around the library for 15 years because they were not sure what to do with them. Five years ago, Fields took on the task of figuring out what they could do with them. The library’s first consideration was to sell the records on ebay.com. Staff quickly realized that they could not make any money that way and set that idea aside. The library staff finally decided to have a public records sale.An official news release was issued to the public through two record stores, WCPE Radio (a classical station), The Fayetteville Observer, The Roar, and a link of the library’s website, “Stacks and Stacks of Wax.” The records were being sold for a very low price. On Sat., Feb. 7, they were one dollar a piece. Feb. 8-19, they were 50 cents. The remaining records will be free from Feb. 20-22. The library has selected about 700 records to keep in their holdings.“The ones we’re keeping will be entered in the library’s online catalog.” said Fields. “Once I’ve done that the records will be stored near the music boards and scores.” These records will be in the library behind the library’s reading café, Novel Brew.The library recently bought a turn-table that converts records into a digital MP3or WMA format. The CDs produced from library records may be checked out by patrons of the library. Patrons are welcome to browse through records and request records be made into CDs. The library staff is encouraging everyone to buy the records even if they do not have a record player. The records can be used in many artistic ways. Instructions for some crafts involving records can be found on the smallTALK website at www.smalltalkmu.com. These sales are beneficial to everyone.Students benefit from a larger library budget for educational texts. Buyers benefit from the opportunity to buy out-of-production records at great prices. Finally, the community and environment benefits from records being kept out of a landfill.
Last Updated on Monday, 16 February 2009 15:53
Town Hall
Monday, 16 February 2009 15:49
Bernard King
Ashley Genova
Editor-in-Chief
Students shared questions and concerns about campus issues with President Elton Hendricks and other administrators during the first town hall meeting of the year on Feb. 4. The Student Government Association hosted the event in the Lion’s Den. In addition to the president, Dean of Academics Delmas Crisp, Dean of Students George Blanc, Vice President for Enrollment Services Rick Lowe, andVice President for Development Robin Davenport were in attendance to answer questions. About 25 students attended the meeting.Hendricks made several announcements, including a 4-5% tuition increase for next year, a renovation of the football locker room, and plans for the new art building. The art building, which will sit near the science building and the intramural field, gets 90% of its funding from a private donator. It will open spring 2010. The tuition increase is the “smallest tuition increase we’ve had,” said Hendricks. Hendricks credits the increase in tuition to the increased cost of keeping the campus running.The students brought up concerns about the tuition increase. They questioned expenses such as the purchase of the King’s Grant golf course and the “Restore the Classics” phone-a-thon that raised money to remodel older dorms. According to Hendricks, the administration hopes the golf course will be profitable in the future. In regards to the dorm fundraisers, Davenport ensured their success.Other comments included concerns with the cafeteria and handicap access to the older Trustees Building. The time for questions was cut off at one hour, as Hendricks wanted to send the staff home and he needed to pick up his medication.“A lot of the students had so many other questions,” said Brittany Coleman, a student who attended the meeting. “I think it was somewhat productive.”“I don’t think my question was answered,” said April Vann, who brought up concerns with food services. “I think instead of beating around the bush, [they should] just answer the question.”Derrick Soellner, SGA president, said arranging another town hall meeting would be on his agenda. The administrators present, though, encouraged students to express their concerns in other ways. “There’s faster ways to get a problem solved than to see me,” said Hendricks as he told students that authority figures closer to the situation can fix problems quicker.
