Cable installation runs into difficulty

Cable installation runs into difficulty

Student reactions mixed as wiring schedule delayed

By Kimberly Mackesy

The lengthy and long-awaited process of in-room cable
installation at the dorms began in Hedrick Hall on Tuesday
morning.

But wiring of individual student rooms did not go as smoothly as
planned, and student reactions to the process were mixed.

Workers encountered significantly more steel and concrete than
they anticipated, said Joe Oster, general manager of On-Campus
Housing. The extent of the delay’s impact on the installation
schedule was not yet known by press time. Officials will have to
alter the timetable according to the delay created by unforeseen
complications, Oster said.

Because of the additional difficulty involved, workers were
unable to complete the wiring in some of the rooms they started on
Tuesday. As a result, some of the students had to leave their rooms
again on Wednesday.

In preparation for the installation process, students were made
to empty one closet in each room and vacate the premises from 9
a.m. until 6 p.m. This was a measure that met with varied student
reaction on Tuesday, before the additional delay was announced.

"It’s only one day compared to what we’re going to get," said
Yvette Mori, a first-year undeclared student. Her sentiment seemed
to be shared by most of the other residents of the Seven North
floor who were displaced Tuesday.

"It’s just a day of inconvenience. Most of the time I’m on
campus anyway, so it really didn’t bother me," said first-year
chemistry student Carolyn Gin.

Other students on Seven North voiced both complacency and
indifference as they returned to their rooms at 6 p.m., toting
backpacks, blankets and pillows.

"On one side, it’s good that it’s finally happening because
(On-Campus Housing) has been trying to bring it here for so long,"
said Amanda Loka, a second-year undeclared student and resident of
Hedrick Seven North, the first wing to undergo the installation.
"But on the other hand, it’s kind of inconvenient," she added.

"(We) are just taking it in stride," said Jean Chen, a
second-year sociology student.

Other residents, in rooms scheduled to be wired soon, voiced
irritation and concern after having seen the disturbance created by
the process. Eileen Masigla, a first-year pre-biology student, was
concerned that residents seemed to be crowded in the Seven South
study lounge while the Seven North lounge was unavailable to
students.

"It’s kind of frustrating because we have to pack everything up.
Showing our IDs (to CSOs in order to retrieve items during the day)
is kind of inconvenient," she said.

Alex Wong, a first-year undeclared student, said he was
ambivalent about the project.

"I’m looking forward to it and not. I miss ‘Beavis and
Butthead,’" he said. He also added that housing officials should
have the cable installed at the beginning of the year. That way the
displaced students would also be the ones to receive the television
and computer network service, Wong said. "We’ll only have (cable)
for two months."