By Daniel Johnson, Sports Editor

The weather scared away the crickets, and the laundry room has a new coat of paint, but Sherrod Hall’s days are still numbered.

In response to residents’ complaints, repairs have been made to Sherrod – a residence hall for graduate students and married students- over the past months. The residence hall is closed to new residents, and Sherrod will shut down after the 33 residents move out.

“We’re getting the attention we deserve,” said Roxanne Shockley, senior interdisciplinary major from Billings, Mont. “People are listening to our needs, and those needs are being met.”

Shockley was one of the original residents who took the initiative and e-mailed Residence Life and Education Director John Delony about the long list of repairs that Sherrod needed. Delony held a forum for residents in September to find out what needed to be repaired, and since then, new washers and dryers, carpet in the laundry room and repaired lights around and throughout the facility are a few of the many repairs have been quickly taken care of.

“Before, when we first moved in there was a list of stuff to fix, and one of the repairs was made six months after we made the request,” resident Nicole Waites said. “Now things get fixed in a couple of days.”

Waites said the main reason for the speedy repairs is because of the work of on-site director Rebecca Cates, graduate student from Olathe, Kans. Cates accepted the position in August, and residents say the amount and speed of repairs is a big shift from how things used to work at Sherrod.

“Whenever we e-mail Rebecca about anything, it’s fixed in one or two days,” Shockley said.

Residents say another significant improvement is the revamped laundry room. Four new washers and dryers were installed, new carpet was laid, the walls were painted, a lock was installed and the lights around the laundry facility were fixed.

“I feel a lot safer,” said Shockley, who never did laundry at night because she was scared.

Delony said ResLife expects to phase out Sherrod residents over three years, and university officials have not decided what to do with the facility after it is vacant. For now, Delony is just happy that the resident’s needs are finally being met.

“Let me put is this way, at the beginning of the year I was getting multiple phone calls and multiple e-mails. Those have completely stopped,” Delony said.