Construction irks grad students

Students in graduate housing have been coping with an unwanted wakeup call most mornings for more than five months now — heavy construction outside their rooms, often beginning at six or seven in the morning.

"It used to be that we had a nice quiet area. Then, one day they came in with chainsaws and ripped up the whole field," graduate student David Potere said.

Since October, Springdale Golf Course, which runs adjacent to campus, has been expanded on its southern end.

"We're building a new clubhouse and a driving range," said Dan McCarthy of the club. "Our current clubhouse has been there since 1895, and we're getting a bigger membership."

The housing department emphasized that the University was not participating in the construction project. "It's not a University-run project," said Patricia Smith, associate director of operations for the department.

At the southern part of the golf course lies New Lawrence, a group of six new buildings for graduate housing. One of these buildings, Lawrence 13, which houses only first-year graduate students, is at the center of the construction.

"All of our windows look out on the course," Potere said. "When we signed our leases, we thought we were getting prime housing, and no one had told us about the construction. We had no notification, and this is a two-year project."

Graduate student Nathan Wozny said that the students were notified via email about the construction on Oct. 10, 2005, the date the construction started.

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"We can't open our windows anymore. If you do, you get a fine layer of dust over everything. There are diesel fumes because there are 15 to 20 trucks around at any given time. There is no privacy. There are maybe 15 to 20 workers outside of the building, and we have floor-to-ceiling windows, so even if there is a little crack, they can see inside," Potere said.

After receiving several complaints from him, the housing department sent Potere a fruit basket.

And after jackhammers began at 6 a.m. last Wednesday, graduate students called to complain and construction ceased.

"We have construction stopped for this week. We've delayed construction for midterms, and we'll start again next week," Smith said.

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But Potere is still unsatisfied. "That's the first time they've stopped. I think it's the first time they've made the concession that this [construction] is kind of ridiculous," he said. "They are doing something, but it's not enough."

Seven graduate students who live in Lawrence 13 sent the housing department a letter of complaint on Tuesday asking for rent reduction, priority relocation for next year and a community meeting between the graduate students and the head contractor to explain the scope of the project.

"Students have a choice in where they live, and I hope the housing office responds to the needs of their tenants, and ensures that all students have a suitable place to live and work," Wozny said in an email.

The housing department has not yet responded to the letter.