Dorm residents left out in the cold

Remember back to when you were sitting in class yesterday. Think of who was sitting on your left. Now, the person to your right. There's a good chance one of these people -- or you yourself -- did not take a shower. A ruptured pipe at the Schuykill Steam Generation Plant left the entire campus without the steam used to supply heat and hot water to many buildings, including dormitories. It also left harried desk workers with a lot of explaining to do. "There's a steam problem and there won't be water until after eight," Novelette Sanford told a caller in High Rise North yesterday morning. By 7:40 a.m., she said she had received over 30 calls. "If I say that one more time, I'll just die," she added as she hung up. But it was the lack of hot water that had most people steamed. "I most certainly did not [take a shower], no," a Quadrangle resident said before dashing through the front gate turnstile. "I'm going to go get some coffee, actually." According to Alan Zuino, associate director of residential maintenance, West Campus residences and the Quad lost both heat and hot water shortly after 4 a.m. yesterday. Hill House and the Graduate Towers fared somewhat better, since these buildings heat water in large storage tanks rather than through the "instantaneous" system in place elsewhere on campus. A smiling resident of Hill House said her hot shower was "great" as she dashed downstairs to the dining area, presumably for a hot meal. A Hill House desk worker dipped her hand in a bucket of water she was using to wipe down the desk area. "It's hot," she said. Perhaps most frustrated of all were students in the Kings Court and English House dormitories. Because of a scheduled water shutdown from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., many residents woke up early to take a hot shower only to discover they just could not win. Baseball caps and bandanas became de rigeur for some as they tried to hide their unkempt hair. Still, not everyone gave up on a shower. But some lived to regret it. "To take a cold shower is not the most comfortable experience ever," College freshman Alex Hope observed as he left the Quadrangle. Zunio said steam service was restored shortly after noon yesterday. West Campus dormitories were also plagued by water shutdowns at this time last year. Water was shut off several times last September and October, including one instance in which all buildings lost hot water for a 12-hour period.

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