Rodin hot water shortages leave residents in the cold

Frequent hot water shortages have become a pressing issue within Rodin College House, to the frustration of numerous residents.

Three reported incidents related to hot water occurred in Rodin this fall. Two of these incidents resulted in a total shutdown of hot water for all residents. The most recent incident, which started on Nov. 11, persisted into the following day.

In total, residents have received three emails notifying them of a lack of hot water, a number some students feel does not accurately depict the amount of time they have gone without hot water.

“Those emails definitely don’t account for all the times we don’t have hot water,” College sophomore Dorian Ledbetter said.

The reactions of students are incredibly mixed. For the most part, residents seem to view these shortages as a nuisance.

“I think it’s annoying,” College sophomore Ian Masters said. “I have to wake up earlier to shower before the hot water is shut off!”

Other students don’t feel the shortages are that big of a deal.

“It doesn’t affect me,” Engineering sophomore Scott Freeman said. “I don’t mind having to take a cold shower once in a while.”

However, other residents of Rodin find the shortages to be more than a trivial issue.

“It’s irritating I live in a [place] where hot water is scarce,” Wharton sophomore Taylor Brown said. “All the while, outside my window, the Radian — which is only a couple hundred more than what I currently pay for a similar apartment — probably almost never has these problems.”

Penn’s Facilities and Real Estate Services insists that workers are doing the best that they can to clear up the issues that have led to the shortages, and the University is asking that students be patient and understanding.

“Ongoing maintenance and repairs such as these are usual in a building that is 40 years old and houses more than 750 people,” FRES Executive Director of Operations & Management Ken Ogawa said in an emailed statement through a spokesperson. “Facilities and Residential Services work together to ensure that problems are quickly reported, investigated and repaired and that communications are made to the building’s residents through the House email listserv and posters.”

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