Computer labs, furniture replacement going into Brown and Stewart Halls

JEREMEY DOBBINS
DM Staff Writer

Brown and Stewart Halls are getting new computer labs and also received other minor improvements over the summer.

Dave Sagaser, the associate director for operations in Student Housing, said that work was continuing in both Brown and Stewart Halls on the computer labs that each will be getting this semester. Sagaser said that he anticipates that both new labs will be open by mid-terms.

"I look forward to opening up the two new computer labs in Brown and Stewart this semester," he said.

In other improvements, Sagaser said that both Brown and Stewart halls received new chairs, mattresses and bunkable beds. Sagaser said that these replacements are part of a systematic change-out of furniture used to keep the furnishings in the dorms from wearing out. Deciding which dorm will be selected for this change-out process is based on a number of factors, including need, funding, size of the building and the building's budget, Sagaser said.

Sagaser said, Brown and Stewart also received new plumbing fixtures, such as shower heads and faucets and both also received some new lighting. However, only Stewart Hall received new sinks and vanity tops in its bathrooms.

Naomi Willis, a desk worker and current resident in Brown Hall and former Stewart Hall resident said that the improvements were helpful.

"The beds we have now, they're much better. The old ones would fall apart, and the mattresses had dirty brown spots that told anyone that they needed to be changed."

However, she said that the renovations in Brown didn't go as far as she would have liked.

"Sure, they put new beds and chairs in, but it still looks raggedy," Willis said, and suggested that more could have been done on the showers and floors to help Brown look better. She also noted that Brown has a bug problem and that money should be spent on an exterminator.

A resident of Stewart prior to its renovations, Willis said that Stewart now looked much better. "Stewart looks much cleaner and has a fresh, open environment with its new sinks and lights." She also said the effects of the improvements in Stewart were more noticeable than the improvements in Brown.

Sagaser said that no further major improvements were planned for either of these dorms for the coming year after the computer labs were completed and opened to the residents. However, he did say that Brown Hall was slated to be in the first phase of a residence hall improvement program called the Phoenix Project, which would place Brown Hall under extensive renovations beginning in 2003 or 2004. Stewart is in a later phase and its Phoenix Project-related renovations have not yet been scheduled.