Unifinished renovations greet SM and TD frosh

Cleaning rooms and moving beds may not be included in a freshman counselor's job description. But Silliman and Timothy Dwight counselors found themselves doing it all as they welcomed Yale's 300th entering class last week. Summer renovations in the two colleges had not been fully completed as freshmen arrived, exacerbating the work-load of Silliman and TD counselors.

"The building was in terrible condition," counselor Ben Keith, TD '98, said. Since "the cleaning crew did not do a good job," he and other TD counselors were left to prepare suites for the arrival of their counselees. Shannon Huffaker, SM '98, also found herself moving furniture as the clock ticked down to the arrival of her frosh.

According to Huffaker, the dorms were a mess when she arrived. "When the counselors came, everything was completely destroyed--the bathrooms were a mess and rooms were used for storing tools," she said.She added that workers were hammering away until midnight on the night before frosh arrived.

Many frosh weren't impressed by the renovations. "They made a lot of mistakes," Becky Silber, SM '01, said. "There wasn't a lock in the bathroom, there were leaky sinks, and the door in one of the stalls opens in instead of out." Jaime Le, SM '01, agreed. She and her suitemates were greeted by a room with "paint all over the floor."

While physical plant officials refused to comment on the status of the Silliman and TD renovations, counselors and freshmen were also suspicious of the conduct of some of the workers.

"One counselor caught a worker going through that counselor's things," Keith said. He added that when the counselor asked the worker what he was doing, the worker acted as if he was looking for something belonging to him. A few students were victims of theft. "People got their stuff stolen," Le said.

Unannounced intrusions also concerned incoming students. "One of our roommates was sleeping, and she awoke to see a strange man in our room fixing the handle on our door," Sandy Santos, SM '01, said.

The University's latest Bulletin and Calendar describes the renovations as work on bathrooms, heating systems, fire-safety devices, and painting.

Although a completion date was not listed, freshmen noted that the work is continuing. "They're still doing wiring and finishing touches," Silber said.

Nevertheless, not all students were disturbed by the renovations. "It was pretty bad right until the freshmen came...Things are fine in my entryway [now]," frosh counselor Sarah Russell, SM '98, said.

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