Winter temps cause problems

No amount of warning could have prepared Boston College students and faculty for the amount of snow that was dumped in Boston last week by the noreaster.

Mike Dwyer, associate vice president of facilities services, however, explained that the University is ready to handle the heavy snowfall that is characteristic of Boston at this time of year.

"It's really a team effort," said Dwyer, in reference to how the grounds crew, athletic maintenance, and custodial staff work together to keep BC up and running.

Dwyer explained that each part of campus has its own snow plan. "We adjust our labor and equipment to the activity of those zones," he said. "Chestnut Hill, Upper, and Newton Campuses are our main focus."

For extremely heavy snowfalls, like last week, Dwyer noted that BC is willing to hire outside help to supplement its own clearing efforts.

"We had to remove a lot of our snow in this snowstorm because there was so much of it; so we moved it to Brighton Campus," said Dwyer.

He explained that the reasons for moving snow are to open up more parking spaces and for public safety concerns. Such procedures are usually done during the night when there is the least pedestrian traffic to ensure safety.

"We also need to move the snow in case we get two or three more inches," Dwyer added.

Dwyer acknowledged that there have been some minor problems with some of the residence halls because of the snow, but students should be assured that no large problems have come up and none are predicted for the future.

"We have some temperature fluctuations in all of our buildings. We monitor those through our shop and respond to them through time," Dwyer said.

Walsh and Edmond's are two of BC's older residence halls and therefore have the most problems during the winter.

Recently, the power in Walsh had to be shut down from 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. so that mechanical dryers could be installed on some pipes.

Dwyer said that the problem has been solved and future problems in those buildings are not expected.

Students, however, are less than satisfied with the conditions in the campus's oldest residence halls.

"The heating in Walsh is hard to guage," said Kelsey Dippold, a Walsh resident and A&S '07. "Often times I have to resort to wearing my winter clothes in the room because it is frigid and the windows let in drafts. We've even had to duct tape some of the windows to try and keep the cold out."

Alexandra Livezey, an Edmond's resident and A&S '06, said Edmond's is particularly prone to damage.

"It's no surprise that our housing money can't cover the cost of a renovation when most of it has to go towards the wacky weekend repair fund," she said.

"That's where we laze about on Sunday mornings as sad-looking BC staff members again work to reconstruct Edmond's Hall. Repairs typically include issues like 'putting the ceiling back in,'" she added.

Other students, however, argued that one can't expect high class living in college.

"As far as cleanliness and maintenance, it's probably not one of the cleanest buildings, but given its age it's not as bad as people tend to describe it," said Christopher Hunker, an Edmond's resident and A&S '07.

Assistant facilities director for Residential Life Cathy O'Connor offered some tips for keeping residence halls free of winter damage.

"We ask the people living in the Mods to keep their heat set high and keep the bathroom doors open during these deep freezes to prevent problems," said O'Connor. "Flooding is not really a problem. We're under control."

Dwyer complimented the custodial staff on their efforts to keep the lobbies and hallways of the buildings free from the slush that is carried from the outdoors as people walk through buildings.

"It's safety for everyone so no one slips and falls," said Dwyer.

He said that the staff is doing everything possible to give students the greatest comfort during the winter season and they consider most of their efforts "standard operating procedure."

Dwyer also said that the BC community has helped make the jobs of the buildings and grounds workers more pleasant.

"Kids at Boston College have that sense of character and respect," he said.