YMCA residents lament construction by The Huntington News • December 6, 2012 • News • 0 Comments
By Raffaela Kenny-Cincotta, News Correspondent
After consistent complaints, a group of Northeastern officials met with some students this week to discuss ongoing construction on Huntington Avenue and its effects on the students housed in the YMCA.
About 30 students who attended the meeting were residents of the YMCA. They voiced a variety of complaints ranging from noise to room expenses, all stemming from the adjacent construction of a new Northeastern Residence Hall. Representatives from the Student Government Association and Progressive Student Alliance also attended.
“You’re looking at students who have had sleep problems for some time now,” Nicole Fleming, a middler sociology major, said. Fleming is a transfer student who lives in the YMCA and said construction noises wake students up between 6:30 and 7 a.m. six days a week.
Steffi Klosterman, a sophomore political science major, cited the student handbook in saying that morning quiet hours in all dormitories are in effect until 8:30 a.m.
“Northeastern is essentially violating their own policy here,” Klosterman said to officials.
Robert Jose, associate dean for cultural and residential life, countered, saying quiet hours are for students inside residence halls.
“The spirit of that rule is to quiet students,” Jose said.
Fleming said when she applied to Northeastern as a transfer student, she did not know she could be placed in the YMCA, as it is not listed on the website for Northeastern Housing and Residential Life.
“Transparency is a huge issue,” she said. “The fact that it’s not on the website is not a way for students to start their experience here. It’s like the YMCA was hidden from us, that you didn’t want us to know about it.”
Officials from the Residential Life department said they were unaware that the YMCA was not on the website.
Students also complained that they are paying full rates for their rooms. They said living conditions have been sub-par throughout this semester, and housing rates should be adjusted. They described water and electricity being shut off and receiving asbestos warnings. Students pay approximately $3,600-$4,000 for the semester, in addition to a housing deposit.
Some female students also voiced concerns about unidentified male construction workers walking around their floors without prior notice.
Construction on the new dorm is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2013.
“The construction is not going to stop,” Marina Macomber, assistant vice president of student and administrative services and student affairs, said.
Macomber continued, “We certainly knew there was a project coming, but we’ve been building housing for the last 10 years … we’ve had varying degrees of noise and destruction … year-after-year we’ve been able to manage construction relative to students.”
The meeting ended with officials saying they needed a week to mull over possible options for students. Suggestions by students included priority or reduced housing for next year, and even shutting the YMCA down completely. Unhappy students living at the Y have the option to move for the spring 2012 semester with no increase in their current housing costs.
