Crystal Luong
News Editor
Water Damage to B-Suite in Dorm 13 caused
relocaion of several residents for a little over
two weeks last month.
Carleton Yoder / Staff Photographer
Junior Stephanie Miller woke up Friday morning and reached for a light switch. The only thing she found was complete darkness that would last another 17 hours.
“We were a little bit confused,” said Miller, the residential advisor of Dorm 12. “I tried to check the circuit breaker. Then we realized the whole dorm was out of electricity.”
Pepperdine, ranked No. 1 by the most recent Princeton Review poll for on-campus housing, has its shares of troubles, too.
On Friday at 7:05 a.m., a transformer blew up, knocking out power from dorms 11 and 12 for the entire day and in other residential areas for several hours, according to Facilities Management and Planning. A host of other housing concerns have also hit campus, including water and moisture problems that prompted the relocation of several residents in Dorm 13 and Lovernich Apartments in the past month.
The Housing, FMP and Risk Management offices have engaged in joint efforts to resolve the residential issues.
“Pepperdine has been extremely proactive,” said Jim Brock, director of Housing. “Risk Management sets the protocol and makes sure we react in an appropriate manner.”
University officials said an outside contractor was called in to replace the transformer directly after its failure. During the process of repairs, Lovernich Apartments and Rockwell Towers residents lost power from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Dorms 11 and 12 were fully operational by midnight.
Some students found methods of amusement for a situation beyond their control.
“It was nice to be kicked back to the Middle Ages just because we were one of two dorms without power for the whole day,” said junior Joe Kaatz, who lives in Dorm 11.
According to RA Miller, the lack of power and hot water prompted six of her residents to rent a room at Good Nite Inn through Malibu Canyon.
“It was an excuse for them to go have fun,” Miller said.
Power outages due to downed transformers are rare though, said Director of Facilities Bill Salyer.
“I’ve been here for 21 years, and this was only the second time that a transformer had to be replaced,” Salyer said. He recalls the last such incident taking place in 1986 at Dorm 16.
While future blackouts are not expected, housing directors are focusing on another issue — mold and mildew.
Post-winter break, Dorm 13’s B-suite residents returned to damp and musty rooms.
“The carpets and walls had mold growing in them,” said freshman Tyler Davidson, who lives in B-suite.
Dorm 13 residents were advised at the beginning of the year that “several water leaks were discovered” along with damaged building materials, according to a statement from Public Relations.
Davidson and his roommate were relocated to different rooms in the dorm for a little over two weeks while repairs were completed.
The other residents in the suite were inconvenienced during this period, according to Davidson, but FMP made the best of a difficult situation.
“They handled it well,” he said.
Their housing charges were reduced for the time they were relocated, saving each about $500.
Brock said all known campus-housing problems have been resolved, including mold problems that also affected a Lovernich apartment in C-block. He pointed out that Pepperdine’s situations are not unique, and his office is striving to be an effective liaison between students and maintenance.
“The awareness of moisture problems has become an issue on other campuses, too,” Brock said.
Housing and Community Living notified residents through an e-mail Monday about new protocols to more efficiently handle leaks or pipe breakages. The office requested residents to immediately report to the maintenance hotline of any problems that arise, or to call the Department of Public Safety after regular hours.
Despite inconveniences, students affected by the housing problems seem to share the attitude that their issues were dealt with adequately.
“I know they (FMP) were working really hard,” Miller said. “People were digging in the rain. Everyone understood the situation. The girls all coped really well.”
Kaatz agreed.
“I think they handled it the way they should have — not that we could check our e-mail,” he said.
In the event of any water or leak problems:
Report to the maintenance hotline during the day at ext. 4446.
After hours, call the Department of Public Safety at ext. 4442.
02-17-2005