By Laura Acuff, Opinion Editor
Women staying in Morris Hall during the Easter holiday faced cold showers for the duration of the break, as the residence hall experienced several complications leading to the shut off of the hot water before the final issue was resolved Monday.
Problems began Friday morning when residents realized hot water seemed unavailable, said Amanda Buchanan, Morris Hall resident assistant and senior psychology major from Lubbock.
Buchanan said the pilot light kept going out, only staying lit a few minutes at a time. Even after Physical Resources addressed the issue, the light continued to go out multiple times over the weekend.
“It kept saying just the pilot light was out, but it was really a malfunctioning of different levels of the system,” Buchanan said. “And that’s why it took so long to get fixed.”
Although the end was the same – no hot water – Buchanan said each incident resulted from a different issue. Fixing one part of the system, having it work perfectly, would overload another aspect of the system, necessitating its replacement.
Scot Colley, interim director of Physical Resources, said each problem was unrelated, and workers addressed each new issue as it arose.
“These things take time,” Colley said. “There’s a lot involved with fixing it, and from the time we hear about it until the time we get it fixed, we don’t stop working on it.”
In the meantime, Buchanan said the 10-15 hall residents who lived there over the Easter holiday dealt with the situation by taking cold showers, showering less frequently or showering elsewhere. Additionally, she said she washed fewer dishes over the weekend, waiting for hot water to be restored.
Generally, residents were unhappy to realize they had no access to hot water, Buchanan said. Women became frustrated when, as problems continued to arise, a specific timeline for fixing the issue seemed out of reach.
“Monday was the worst, when everyone came back; and rightly so, coming back from grungy trips, people wanted to shower,” Buchanan said. “It was understandable that they were frustrated, especially for the girls who stayed here over the weekend.”
While women dealt with the situation in various ways, resident directory Angela Bearden said, on the whole, responses exceeded expectations.
“I’m just glad that they have water at this point,” Bearden said. “I guess I’m just impressed by how well the girls responded and how patient they were and also how extremely helpful Physical Resources was in the process because it was frustrating all the way around, but everyone continued to be understanding and helpful of one another.”
Buchanan also extolled the efforts of the Physical Resources employee.
“He gave up his Easter break; he was actually off on holiday and came in, and we were just really appreciative,” Buchanan said. “I completely and utterly respect the fact that the gentlemen came in on his Easter weekend multiple times and stayed for hours each time instead of being with his family.”
Overall, Bearden said the experience ended as positively as possible.
“It was an inconvenience, and it was frustrating,” Bearden said. “But all around, I’m very proud of how students responded, how the staff responded and how Physical Resources responded to the situation.”
