De Neve complex problems remain

  BRIDGET O’BRIEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Although four
buildings in De Neve Plaza opened this fall, construction on the
rest of the plaza continues and is expected to be fully open and
operational in Spring 2001.

By Laura Rico
Daily Bruin Contributor

Students living in the long-awaited De Neve Plaza housing
complex must wait a bit longer, as the complex suffers from a
variety of maintenance problems.

Such problems range from broken elevators, inoperable trash
shoots and poorly installed closets.

The excitement of move-in day turned to frustration as residents
arrived to broken elevators.

“I had to climb up two flights of stairs with a dolly
carrying some very heavy boxes,” said Darolyn Striley, a
third-year English student. “I did this for all three days it
took me to move in.”

According to Housing Director Michael Foraker, the elevators are
taken care of by independent manufacturing companies. He said they
may be fixed by the end of the week.

Move-in day, scheduled for Sept. 23, had to be postponed one day
for general contractors to finish installing doors and
cabinets.

Despite these last minute improvements, residents found their
rooms in unsatisfactory conditions. One student voiced concern over
the instability of a pair of sliding closet doors.

“My doors fell off their rails when my roommate was trying
to pull them open,” said Eric Davis, a second-year
linguistics student.

“They’ve been sitting outside of my room for a few
days, waiting to be repaired,” he said.

De Neve Plaza is scheduled for completion in spring 2001. The
addition of 614 rooms will house 1,258 residents. Aside from
housing units, a dining hall is scheduled to open in the complex as
well.

According to Foraker, architects and the housing staff have
surveyed students and turned in a list of their most pressing
concerns to the buildings’ contractors.

“Students can trust that housing and the contractors will
stay on top of all items on their lists,” Foraker said.

Attributing the problems to construction crews not having enough
time to fully inspect every detail of the complex, Foraker said the
problems were temporary.

Nonetheless, he said students are thankful for the extra housing
units in general.

“Many students were informed of the availability of
housing two to three weeks prior to fall move-in,” Foraker
said.

Residents are also concerned with the trash chutes, which are
out of service in all four residential units.

“We have to leave our trash bags out in the hallways, and
wait for maintenance to come by and pick them up,” said Greg
Peterson, a third-year biochemistry student.

Foraker said he expects the trash chutes to be in full operation
within the next two days.

Custodial workers have also been affected by residents’
concerns.

“Residents complain every day about the elevators and
trash chutes, but there is nothing we can do about it,” said
Efrain Ortiz, an employee of Diamond Contract Services, Inc., which
hires custodians.