Students Clamor for Heating

As the temperature drops and levels of stress rise, students of the College are beginning the yearly ritual of complaining about the heating in their dorm rooms.

Especially vocal are the residents of Leverett Towers, where the abundance of windows and a heating system powered by hot water rather than steam have combined to make student rooms colder than most.

"It's a refrigerator!" said Luba T. Mandzy '01 of her room in G Tower. "It's really uncomfortable, and we're paying so much for room and board!"

Mandzy said she is considering purchasing a space heater for her room, but has been deterred by the University's designation of the devices as illegal.

"I just don't know if anything will get done about [the heat problem] because so many upperclassmen have space heaters so they just live with it," Mandzy said.

Alicia A. Casquarillo '00 lived in Leverett Towers last year but transferred to Quincy House this year.

"It was horrible," Casquarillo said of her experience last year. "One night I slept with two pairs of socks, sweatpants, two comforters, and a ski cap."

Some Towers residents wondered whether the heat has yet been turned on. "You touch the radiators and there's no heat coming out," said Maryvonne Neptune '01. "I'd like for them to turn [the heat] on."

Leverett House Superintendent Matthew P. Stec said that as of October 15, the heat was turned on, and he has only received two complaints about cold rooms this year.

Stec said the temperature in the Towers, like the rest of the College dorms, is regulated to 68 degrees between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. and 64 degrees between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

"A lot of people seem to be dissatisfied with these levels," Stec said.

H. Joseph O'Connor, who has been building manager of Dunster, Mather and Leverett for seven years and prior to that spent seven years dealing with similar problems at Adams House, said that though student rooms may feel cold, the University is fulfilling its pledged temperature guidelines.

"As old as [Leverett] is, in the seven years I've been here we've always been able to maintain the temperatures we promised students," O'Connor said.

According to both O'Connor and Stec, measures have been taken to increase student satisfaction. Stec said the outside temperature which triggered the heat was previously 55 degrees, but has been changed to 58. O'Connor said a digital temperature control system will be piloted this year in Leverett.

"Leverett has a more complicated system with its two types of heating," O'Connor said. The new system will provide more control and more efficiency, according to O'Connor.

Stec attributed the disparity between complaint tallies in Leverett Towers and the rest of Leverett House to the difference in heating systems. "Steam heat is more consistent," he said.

However, not all Towers residents are displeased with the state of affairs.

"I've found that it's better that it's cold because it's easier for me to stay awake and study," Michael W. Groves '01 said.

Other Towers tenants said they've had no problems with their heat.

Residents of other Houses did not report similar problems, though many of these Houses also use hot water heating systems.

First-years, however, had plenty of gripes. Some, like Lindsey O. Worth '02, a Straus resident; Peter W. Graham '02, who lives in Wigglesworth; and Nancy Liao '02 and Margo Strucker '02, both of whom live in Canaday, were surprised to hear that the heat had even been turned on.

Jessica F. Shapiro '01 warned that, at least for Straus residents, the situation will only get worse. "I slept with my feet on the radiator last year," she said. "It was such a small room to heat, but it was still cold."

Shapiro, now a resident of Kirkland House, also said she was dismayed that she was unable to control the temperature levels of her room in Straus. The heaters in student rooms in many of the upper-class Houses have functional dials with which the students can regulate their heat, while most of the freshman dorms do not.

Yard Operations officials declined to comment yesterday evening on the situation.

O'Connor offered advice for students with heating problems. He noted that every time he receives a heating complaint, he asks the student to check for furniture which has been inadvertently placed in front of a radiator, to check for open windows, and to make sure the radiator dial has been turned on.

"You'd think these are common sense, but you'd be surprised," O'Connor said.