HRS elevator problems continue

Although Residential Maintenance has spent the past seven months trying to improve performance of High Rise South elevators, many residents still complain of slow, unreliable service. "The elevators seem to have a mind of their own," College senior and HRS resident Deb Levy said. According to Associate Director of Residential Maintenance Al Zuino, a refurbishing plan for the high rise's four elevators is in its final stages. The entire project cost $750,000. Two elevators were repaired and renovated before students moved in this fall, while the other two were fixed by the end of November. The initiative included refurbishing the elevator compartments and revamping the computer system. "We changed the brains of the elevators," Zuino said. He added that while the elevators may not necessarily be faster, they make fewer inefficient mistakes -- such as opening doors on random floors and stopping for extended periods of time. But Levy said problems still plague the elevator system. "As usual, with technology, the more fancy things are, the more things there are to break," Levy added. Zuino acknowledged that problems still exist, adding that the Residential Maintenance Department is still working to "fine-tune these errors." "The fact that it is a new elevator doesn't mean that it doesn't have problems," he said. "We've already responded to several problems." Levy said the maintenance staff usually responds quickly to problems. Other residents also said they were dissatisfied with the new elevators. College junior Lisa Fernandez complained that for the last few months, there was always at least one elevator not running. "They were always working on one elevator, which meant that there was no express elevator for the first semester," the 22nd-floor resident explained. "It's so irritating that they paid all that money to fix them," she added. Engineering and Wharton sophomore Jason Wang said the only changes he has noticed are the more simplistic elevator interiors and the slower doors. "It's also the first time in a long time that all four elevators are working," he noticed last night. Zuino said he plans to begin a similar repair plan on High Rise East elevators this summer once students move out. He predicted that the work there would be completed by the beginning of 1997.