The day summer session students were given four hours to move from their dormitories to Central Campus apartments was not a good one for Trinity junior Heather Wheeler.
"The situation was absurd," she said. "I was all packed and ready, and I had someone to help me, and yet I still couldn't finish in the four hours. And I was lucky: My apartment was ready at noon. Lots of other people's weren't. I realize they have to check the apartments and clean them, but I really don't understand why they can't extend the hours."
Wheeler was not alone in her dissatisfaction with the May 21 move-in period. Many students found fault with the University's practice of opening Central Campus at noon and turning dormitory card readers off at 4:00 p.m. But housing administrators said they think the time window is adequate.
"I think that the four hours are sufficient if you have the resources to move," said John Duncan, facilities manager of West Campus II Housing Office, which oversees Few and Edens Quadrangles and Trent Dormitory. "The problems come depending on what kind of transportation [students] have and if they have any help. We get kids who don't have a car or don't have a sufficient car, or kids whose friends have all left, and they get tired and frustrated."
Tony Bumphus, East Campus facilities manager, agreed that four hours is enough time to complete the move.
"The [housing] department and [the Office of Student Development] sends out information to inform people far enough in advance so they know what to expect," Bumphus said. "You know when your exams are; you should treat the housing schedule with the same amount of attention. I hope I don't sound harsh, and I understand that students have tough schedules, but the real world isn't going to be flexible at all."
Students, however, contend that the short time period is unreasonable and, in select cases, unreasonably enforced.
Trinity junior Maria Monge said she was "appalled" by the treatment inflicted on students who could not make the 4:00 p.m. deadline.
"The West Campus maintenance people were so rude," she said. "At 4:00, someone was standing at the door of my dorm, ushering people out. One girl needed to make one more trip, and he shouldered her-physically kept her from going back up the stairs. It was absurd."
Others found they were able to circumvent the deadline.
"I lived in a triple, and we had so much stuff it was just impossible to get it all out in four hours," said Trinity junior Andrew Mogavero. "So we were in the dorm until 6:00. They threatened us a few times, and then the supervisor for the quad came and locked the door around 5:30, but we propped the windows open."
Jay Baruch, manager of housing administration, said an extension of the deadline for dormitory move-out was not feasible. "We need to get people out before dark," he said. "It's not safe for either person or property."
Bumphus added that setting a later closing time would create an unfair situation for employees. "With the move-out time being at 4:00," he said, "we still don't get out of here until six or seven or eight because so many people who have procrastinated for forever are still hanging out in the building, and we are trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. There comes a point where we want to go home, too."
Another obstacle preventing any adjustment of the move-in window, Bumphus said, is the need to clean quickly all of the dorms for summer occupancy. On East Campus, 10 of the 13 dorms will be used this summer by various groups-including the American Dance Festival, which began moving its participants into Wilson Dormitory yesterday. Many of the dorms in West II, all of which come equipped with air-conditioners, will be used for summer camps and conferences.
Housing managers said students who were unable to finish their move-out by 4:00 p.m. were permitted to re-enter their dorm the following day. Seven East Campus residents took advantage of the opportunity, while about 10 students returned to their West II dorms. Information from West I, the third housing management office, was not available.
Although students' primary complaint was the brief, rigid window, some also voiced frustration about the long waits to receive apartment keys. Trinity junior Cynthia Prohl found that the added time she spent in line unnecessarily exacerbated her move-in travails.
"It was awful," she said. "I might have been able to do it if I had had someone to help me, but I was alone. The part I really don't understand is why they wouldn't let people start moving in around 8:30 a.m., or just give out the keys then. You have to waste a lot of time if you're trying to get your key." Prohl said that it took her almost 30 minutes to make it through the line when the office opened at noon, leaving her just three-and-a-half hours to move into her apartment.
But Michael Scott, Central Campus apartment operations manager, said those morning hours are crucial to apartment maintenance workers because seniors did not have to move out until noon just two days earlier.
"We had an excess of 120 apartments to inspect, clean, do maintenance on and then check again to make sure everything was done properly, all in 48 hours," Scott said, noting that 40 of the 120 apartments needed for summer use were not finished on time, although all of them were ready by 1:30 p.m. "I wouldn't characterize [move-in] as perfect, but the mission is monumental."
Other students were concerned that summer session classes began early the next morning. "The four hours wasn't as bad as the fact that we had only 12 hours before class started," Trinity junior Ian Blakely said.
Baruch said that the University scheduling committee might change the summer session time tables, which could give students breathing room between move-in and the start of class. But Paula Gilbert, director of the continuing education and University summer programs, said that any changes to the schedule would probably not affect the first academic term's start-up date.
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