Towers residents move out following housing woes

Following a maintenance and construction incident, sophomore dietetics major Kenny Lee resigned as president of Towers Hall Council and has chosen to move out of campus housing.

On Dec. 2 at approximately 4:00 p.m., Lee entered his dorm room and found two maintenance workers in his bathroom surveying several holes in the wall.

According to WSU’s housing licensing agreement, authorized representatives are allowed to enter dorms at reasonable times after reasonable notice to perform cleaning, maintenance or inspection.

“I didn’t know where they were from. They were just there,” said Lee. “I don’t know how they entered because nobody else was in the room. They must have just keyed in.”

The maintenance workers proceeded to inform Lee that while investigating a leak, they discovered his room as the source of water.

Lee said that he was uncomfortable because not only was he not informed about their work prior to their initial entrance, but they used his belongings.

“I went to my bedroom and when I came back, they had gone. I had a notebook sitting on the coffee table in the living room and they used it to leave a note on the faucet that said ‘don’t use the faucet,’” said Lee.

Carlos Northern, assistant director of Housing Operations said that when residents have work that needs to be completed in their rooms, they should be prepared for the possibility that maintenance and contractors may need to be in their rooms when they are not present due to scheduling conflicts.

However, Northern said facilities personnel and contractors should complete room entry slips upon entrance to a room with no residents present, resident belongings should be respected and they should be cleaning up after themselves.

Lee said that the official room entry slip left in his dorm was blank and his roommate, sophomore art major Nathan Lipovsky, said that the space was also left messy.

“They didn’t sweep anything. There was plaster all over the floor, not like big chunks, but there was fine dust everywhere, which was not cool,” said Lipovsky.

The only form of administrative communication received by the residents during the situation was an email from Cynthia Hildreth, Towers office services clerk, saying that contractors would be working on repairs.

“They did come, but again, they just like keyed in. I was still sleeping, when all of a sudden I heard the sounds of the contractors,” said Lee.

Lipovsky said that he was more frustrated at administration than at the maintenance and construction workers.

“They [maintenance and construction] were totally nice dudes just doing their job, it’s not like they were the ones that made the executive decision to tear up our wall,” said Lipovsky.

Lee said he wishes that he was better informed about the problem and wished he was told that they would be entering their room to fix it beforehand. He also said the situation would have been made better if he was asked what times were most convenient or given a timeline of when workers would be coming.

As a resident, Lipovsky said he felt neglected.

“Maintenance and construction would tell me they were coming in, but it was as they were coming in,” said Lipovsky. “Obviously they had to fix it, but I felt like I was living in a high school and not being treated like an adult.”

Associate Director of Auxiliary Facilities Jon Barth said that no entry slip was completed in Lee’s room upon initial entrance because maintenance supervisor Patrick Armstrong had spoken to one of the residents and told them that they would be opening up the wall and repairing it.

However, Lee and Lipovsky said that to their knowledge, no one had spoken to Armstrong before their wall was opened up.

“After discovering that the leak could not be fixed by afternoon engineers, Mr. Armstrong called in an outside contractor. He then told the resident that a plumbing contractor would be arriving to fix the leak. There has never been a single complaint about them from any resident,” said Barth.

Barth said that residents should be accommodating to personnel and honestly answer any questions regarding service or maintenance issues so repairs can be made.

“Conversely, technicians and engineers should announce and explain their presence, be polite to residents, be respectful of their space, and leave appropriate documentation when resident(s) are not present,” said Barth.

Lee confirmed that he did not attempt to talk to Towers administration nor the Resident Assistants on his floor. When asked why, Lee said that after observing how the Towers flooding incident of Sept. 9 was dealt with, he did not feel that housing staff would be helpful if they knew.

“I’ve come to accept that stuff like this just happens all of the time in Towers. It’s just the way that Towers operates,” said Lee.

The drywall in the residents' bathroom has since been fixed, but the lights have still not been replaced.

“We have been pooping in the dark. It’s been awful,” said Lee.

Lipovsky has also decided to move out of Towers at the end of the fall semester. “The bathroom was just like icing on the cake. Towers just wasn’t the type of environment I want to be living in,” he said.

Lipovsky’s application to cancel his Towers housing contract and bypass a stipulation that requires payment for the second semester was denied.

After requesting an appeal meeting, Lipovsky met with a small panel headed by Jeanine Bessette, director of Housing & Residential Life on Dec. 17. Lipovsky was asked what had changed, if any mental disorders inhibited his stay, and to describe his overall living experience.

“They were vey communicative, but it was kind of difficult to undergo the whole process,” said Lipovsky. “But at the appeals meeting, they were very ready to talk.

The committee ultimately rejected Lipovsky’s appeal upon the basis that they could “accommodate his needs,” and he was instead moved to an apartment in DeRoy for the winter semester.

Lee, on the other hand, chose not to apply for a contract cancellation.

“I knew that I would get denied, so my financial aid will pay for a second semester at Towers even though I will not be living there,” said Lee.

However, Lee and Lipovsky’s experiences are not indicative of all residents. Some still enjoy living in Towers despite incidents.

Freshman electrical engineering major Ben Hewitt recalled how the Towers flooding in September affected him.

“I walked into my room and the window was flooding so badly that both my entire wall and the floor was soaked,” said Hewitt. “An hour later, Towers contractors knocked on my door with towels. They told me about a water break on the ninth floor right above my room.”

Hewitt said that became the first of their many visits. Contractors tore open the ruined wall by his window and brought industrial fans to keep in his room for a month.

“I was told not to turn them off and at one point, there were three fans going off at once. It was a very unpleasant time to be in my dorm,” said Hewitt.

Nonetheless, Hewitt said the contractors and maintenance personnel were very nice and cool. He greets them every chance he gets.

Other than his problem with the water, Hewitt said that he hasn’t had many problems at Towers at all.

“I feel like I am in the center of Wayne State being in Towers. I love it,” said Hewitt. “The building is very new. I’ve visited dorms at other universities and they just aren’t up to par. It’s a lot cleaner than other places. People may complain about trash, but the trash gets picked up. It doesn’t get picked up at other places.”

Students should keep in mind that the following is written in the Fall 2015 move-in guide.

“The Business and Auxiliary Operations and the Office of Housing and Residential Life are here to support and serve you. Our doors are always open, so please stop by and visit.”

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