Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, I go to the DISC to work out for an hour before coming back to Weck Hall, where I live, to shower and get ready for the day. One morning last week, I returned to find that there was no hot water. At all.

Of course, there was no way that I could avoid showering after having had an intense workout; that was one of the coldest showers of my life. Mind you, I stayed in Hessler for two weeks this past summer when there was no hot water. Yet I was expecting that, and knew ahead of time to shower at the DISC. When there was suddenly no hot water right after I had left there, I was, understandably, a little peeved.

After struggling through a long, difficult shower, I dressed and ran over to Facility Services to complain.

Maintenance completed the task within 24 hours, along with another issue I had: the light in my bathroom that had been out since October. Now, I would understand if this is the first they had heard of the light being out, but it was not. Last semester, my RA placed two work orders and our housekeeper placed a third. At the start of this semester, we placed a fourth.

While the task was eventually completed, it certainly was not timely, and it wasn’t until I mentioned an issue in person that someone dealt with it. Furthermore, this is not the first time I have had this issue. Last year, my suitemates had a light out in their closet. After mentioning it to a housekeeper, they investigated the issue, but didn’t complete it. A few other people also had lights out which were completed after submitting numerous work orders and then, eventually, after taking the matter into our own hands.

It seems to boil down to this: if you have an issue, submit a work order. If it isn’t completed within the month, approach the maintenance department in facility services yourself. From what I have seen, work orders are seldom recognized, but personal reports are. And rather immediately. But please, don’t be rude. Make sure to be civil about the issue or it definitely won’t get done in any timely manner.