While this article will be calling attention to maintenance and safety issues within Lamson Hall, we would like to clarify our appreciation for the services provided to us by the maintenance staff.
College residence halls, especially those without government funding, aren’t exactly the epitome of comfort. Take our very own Lamson Hall, for example. Its lobby is well-designed and prettily painted, but first appearances tend to be deceptive. According to Andrews University records, this building was built to honor Mary Lamson, the former “preceptress of Battle Creek College (1899–1900) and dean of women at Emmanuel Missionary College (1918–1935).” However, Lamson Hall reminds us more of its subpar living conditions than its deserving namesake. Below we will go over the stories of one past and two current Lamson Hall residents, as well as touch on some changes that could be made to rectify their troubles.
A current resident claims that “the dryers burnt [her] clothes, leaving burn marks on them.” Few things are worse than finally getting that Ralph Lauren polo or new American Eagle pair of jeans, wearing them for a day, going through the entire process of washing and drying them, only to be left with ugly burn marks all over your brand-new clothes! Students should not have to choose between wearing scorched, unwashed, wet, or air-dried clothes. They should be offered a reliable and consistent clothes cleaning service. Obviously, a few maintenance hiccups are okay here and there, but they should be far rarer than they are. Causes of an overheating dryer are typically clogged ventilation ducts or a broken thermostat. Both only take a few minutes to fix, and with the right tools shouldn’t cost much to get done. This resident also showed me a picture of the water from the sink in her room, which had a milky white color to it. This could be caused by limescale: the buildup of dissolved magnesium and calcium in your water supply, leaving you with that gross chalky mixture called hard water. Since these two minerals are a recommended part of your diet, the only problem with consuming hard water is its chalky texture and salty taste.
Another current resident not only had one of her room’s major facilities taken from her, but was also not told when the staff would return it. It even got to the point that an Instagram hashtag was made to get the attention of the Andrews University maintenance team. She further explained that “They just came in and took my sink and did not replace it for a whole month. They did not tell us they were going to take the sink, and they never told us when they would replace it. It took a whole hashtag by my friends to finally see results.” This may have been negligence on the maintenance crew’s part. Paperwork can get lost, and records can be scrambled, but leaving a student without a sink for an entire month is unacceptable. Though the Lamson resident may have technically had running water in her room, she did not have an adequate way to use that water. We don’t know exactly what happened on the maintenance side of this equation, but I believe the best thing they could have done was communicate with the resident to explain the issue and how they would fix it.
Other stories include broken shower heads, moldy air ducts, water damage, and even a toilet falling through the ceiling! Truth be told, these sorts of things are bound to happen, but they should be limited to a certain level of inconvenience or danger. Without the funding of a five-star Marriott, I understand that budget and time constraints limit how much attention Lamson Hall can have. Aside from wanting quicker response times from the maintenance end of operations, I think it is essential that our students know what to keep an eye on in their rooms. Though not all things are visible, knowing when something in your room needs repair or replacement, and reporting it to the maintenance department, would help everyone. In conclusion, as students, we should work to support and respect our maintenance staff, but we must also understand our right to quality treatment regardless of our residence hall.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.