Crystal Medrano
Co-Editor
With the temperatures of up to 90 degrees the weeks of Sept. 11and Sept.18, the Dominican community was feeling the heat.
Some residence halls in particular were feeling it more than usual given that students are not allowed to have air conditioning units in their dorms without proper documentation.
Coughlin, Murray, Mazzuchelli, and Power are older buildings that do not have the electric capacity for every student to have an A/C unit in their dorms.
Vice President of Information Technology Jill Albin-Hill informs that rules and regulations regarding A/C units in student dormitories are in the student handbook. “The policy has been in place for as long as I know of” said Albin-Hill. “Students were given notice and a chance to provide documentation (approximately 30 days from move-in).”
Physical Plant and Reslife have been working together to reinforce this policy. Some students however, took it upon themselves to not struggle through the heat and decided to install an A/C unit in their dorms either way.
This is a problem because of overloading circuits throughout the years.
“It has gotten worse as students come with more and more electronics such as TVs, stereos, microwaves, fridges, computers, phone chargers, fans, etc” said Albin-Hill.
As for consequences, rooms have been visited to see if the policy has been broken, results show it has.
According to Albin-Hill, ResLife notified Physical Plant of 5 students who had an A/C unit in their dorms without permission.
On Sept. 25, physical plant began visiting each room to remove the units.
Upon confrontation, “One [student] provided the proper documentation and the other 4 cooperated,” said Albin-Hill.
If students are found violating the student handbook, they will be written up and deferred to conduct procedures. If your unit is confiscated due to violation of the student handbook, a receipt will be provided and students could make arrangements to take their unit back home.
So how do students beat the heat? One way would be to live in Murray Hall. According to Albin-Hill, “Murray was built in 2003 with central air conditioning so individual window units are not necessary.”
Aside from the higher cost of living in Murray compared to other halls, some students may agree that central air conditioning is worth it.
medrcrys@my.dom.edu