Campus facilities holds open forum to address snow day concerns

February 25, 2008 —

The URA held an open forum in the Alumni Lounge Tuesday, Feb. 19 for students to voice their concerns. From snow plowing complaints to maintenance problems, students had no trouble finding their voice.

After the brutal snow storm, many students felt more action should be taken.

"Snow is getting piled up on street corners, so you can't even see oncoming traffic," said mechanical engineering freshman, Katrina Crosson. "It's dangerous."

Guest speaker and Assistant Vice President of Campus Facilities Steve Hocquard reassured students about the appropriate precautions.

"There are on call services 24/7," he said.

Hocquard has been with SVSU for 15 years and he oversees the custodial crew, maintenance crew, and also the energy usage around campus. He was excited to be able to be a part of the open forum evening.

"It's good to communicate with the students," he said. "I've learned some new things among the students and we had some good exchanges."

Recently, Living Center North has been vandalized on several occasions. This raises a concern for any freshman living in LCN because there is a talk about possible community fines. Every floor, especially the second, had had the study rooms destroyed - chairs were all torn up, walls were marked, and window screens had holes.

"It was disgusting. There was even half of a sausage in the drinking fountain," said Crosson.

Students agreed that security cameras should be installed in the dorm hallways. Assistant Manager of Maintenance Operations Mark Engelhart is not ruling it out. He said the police have been notified about the recent LCN activity and the cops are making their rounds more prominent in LCN and LCS buildings.

Energy conservation was also a topic of the evening. With the recycling awareness going on as of now, students are asked to keep recycling.

"Everything from water to electricity, we need student help. It's all about sustainability," Hocquard said.

History sophmore Isaac Hudson felt positive about the entire event.

"The meeting was very productive. A lot of the residents voiced their concerns," he said.

Students are always welcome to attend meetings if they have any concerns.

"Sometimes we don't know about things until they've been going on for a long time," Hocquard said.