Complaints build up about dorm conditions

By Yasmina Araman ---

"Dorm, Sweet Dorm" is the catch phrase on the banner that welcomes the residents each time they enter New Women's Dorm. Functioning as of 1996 with a capacity of 172 residents, New Women's seems to be the neatest and the most favored of the six AUB dorms, in terms of renovations and facilities offered to the residents. With a central AC in summer, efficient heating in winter as well as hot water 24 hours a day, New Women's is the only dorm, next to the Penrose men's residence, composed entirely of semi-private rooms, every two with their own bathroom. When it comes to the preference of some students to rent apartments instead of living in the dorms, Ms. Ibish's comments are, "There is no reason for anybody to rent an apartment outside the campus when we have luxurious dormitories. Also, the dorms' advantages are numerous such as living in the campus very near to the classes. Moreover, the students have all the freedom during the day and during a part of the night to go outside and socialize. Indeed, the dorms are not at all as strict as they were in the past." Yasmin, a political science senior, supports that idea of socializing as one of the greatest assets of dorm life, next to "the advantage offered by the waiver card that allows you to enter the dorms after the curfew hours." However, living at New Women's also has negative aspects, such as "wasting a lot of time instead of studying." Another drawback is that the lounge becomes very dirty with the garbage uncollected during the weekend. Commenting on that issue, Ms. Ibish explained: "The reason the trash accumulates during the weekend is explained by some girls who hadn't been very clean, leaving their garbage in the lounge. However, this is also due to the fact that we receive many visitors. It is therefore difficult to keep the lobby clean." These cleaning problems are minor when compared to the drawbacks of the other women's dormitories. The Murex residence may blow up one day under the weight of heavy criticisms launched by its residents. "Very noisy." "Continuous external repairs and renovation works drive me crazy; they prevent me from studying properly," and "Sending a whole load of petitions going unnoticed by the administration," were the complaints voiced by the Murex girls. Moreover, the transfer of all the dancing activities from the Assembly Hall to the Ball Room next to the building led a frustrated junior biology student to move to the room of her friend at New Women's for a week. She just wanted to be able to concentrate for her exams in a quieter environment. Also, the Murex building is described as "obsolete and rudimentary," with its 110 "archaic voltage that burned all [one student's] electrical appliances," subject to insect attacks every night, and suffering a "cruel absence of AC in summer." The situation at Jewett is not better. Moreover, according to certain students, it is "the worst of the whole AUB community." Despite the advantages offered by socializing and the proximity to their classes, most of the Jewett residents feel forgotten by the administration, at the expense of the New Women's or Boustany dorms. Norma, a senior nutrition major and counselor at her dorm, points out the pros and cons of life at Jewett: "Social life here is wonderful; we all live as one family with everything shared, like the common meals we eat everyday together. One of our problems comes from the payphones recently installed. Half of them are not functional, and the others require us to pay LL1,000 per minute. Half of the computers in the lobby are permanently non-functional. We also want a cable for our TV." Some may say that the girls are demanding. But guys too seem to face some problems, and are also demanding more facilities. Kerr Hall, one of the two men's dormitories on campus, prompts many complaints from residents who preferred to move out or not renew their accommodation for the following semester. Ghaleb Halimi, head resident of Kerr Hall since 1987, explains: "Our dorm was full between 1989 and 1991, during the peak of the war. Because all the roads between East and West Beirut were closed, there was full occupation of the building. We had to accommodate everybody by having three students per room. Moreover, we suffered a lot at that time, with hygiene problems due to the lack of proper infrastructures. However, for the purpose of keeping everybody safe, we sacrificed a bit of everyone's facilities. But now, with relatively no security problems in the country, fewer students have signed up for the dorms. In fact this year and the one before, the number of registered students dropped drastically." One may find some reasons for this situation. First is the problem of maintenance in the building, which dates from 1962. Students share bathrooms, one for every four rooms. Second, the Physical Plant completely rehabilitated Penrose two years ago. This dorm--designed completely differently from Kerr Hall--offers semi-private rooms with bathrooms inside every unit, for students to have more privacy. When asked about the lock problems voiced by many Kerr Hall residents, Halimi explained that they were old fashioned: "Some students have found a way to open the dorm doors with their AUB identification cards. But that system doesn't work with all of them, only on those that have been previously repaired in a lousy way." But doesn't that imply a security problem? Indeed, some of the students complained about personal items disappearing from their rooms. Halimi explained that "most of the time, those items weren't lost, but borrowed or hidden by other students as a joke. However, stealing did happen in few cases." A positive point in Kerr Hall seems to be the improvement in hygiene, due to the services of a private cleaning company, which sends, from 8am to 2pm, Monday through Saturday, seven janitors to take care of the sanitary process. When asked about the facilities cruelly lacking in Kerr Hall, Halimi replied, " I asked the administration what plans it had for Kerr Hall . . . Unfortunately, as a head resident, I can't take myself the resolution of renovating everything. All I can do is send a request to the Physical Plant to do the proper maintenance. Also, it is the Physical Plant which has the final word when it comes to renovation." But why are certain dorms preferred to others? "The future of Kerr Hall remains uncertain," argued Halimi. However, this problem is irrelevant to a majority of the dorm residents, who feel inequality in treatment and living conditions. A solution concerning the better use of resources should be provided by the administration, with clearer answers when it comes to the future of the obsolete buildings urgently in need of in-depth renovation.