Jerry ZurekEver since the final days of last school year, students living in the CAC, or Cabrini Apartment Complex, have been fenced in with one entrance and exit due in part to the recent construction of West Residence Hall which, if all goes as planned, should be finished by next fall.
The way that the fencing is set up has caused a majority of the students that reside in the apartments this school year a great deal of problems, some as early as when they first moved in this semester. A primary issue raised is parking problems on campus.
“When moving into the apartments, the fences and gates were a huge inconvenience because we had to go around them and it was difficult,” Allison Sachs, a junior business major, said when asked if the fences around the apartments are a problem. “It was difficult and annoying to walk around them when carrying large things in such as TV’s, refrigerators etc.”
Junior marketing major Becca Gallagher also feels that the fences are a problem. “They are really frustrating. I hate it when I have to walk around the fences when I am carrying in my groceries,” she said.
In addition to students having issues with carrying large or heavy objects in to their apartments, the fences seem to be causing problems with student parking as well.
Unlike last year, students that live in the apartment complex do not have the luxury of parking their cars right outside of the apartments due in part to the fences. Since construction on West Residence hall has started, it has taken away dozens of potential parking spots for students living at the apartments.
Where West Residence Hall now sits used to be the front parking area which contained a good number of parking spots that were available for students who lived in the apartment complex. As for the parking spots on the side of the apartments, they, too, are fenced off and are now being occupied by trailers and equipment for the construction project. This has not gone over well with the students living in the apartments.
“I’m an upperclassmen and I shouldn’t have to walk from House Two because there is no parking spots,” Sachs said.
When asked about the fences around the apartments and if they are an inconvenience, junior business administration major Erik Serio also commented on the parking situation, “They are a huge inconvenience. I can’t even park near where I live. Sometimes I find myself parked down by House Three and House Four” Serio said.
Since the students residing in the apartments have to park in the lots and the driveways outside of the houses, this causes parking inconveniences for nearly every student that has a car on campus.
House Two resident and sophomore business administration major Chris Strano said, “The whole parking situation is ridiculous. The people living in the apartments have to park outside of the houses and in our driveways which forces everyone else to park farther away from their houses.”
Even though the fences may be the greatest inconvenience for those in the apartment complex, they are in fact there for good reasons.
Michael Caranfa, director of construction and renovation, said that the fences are there for a purpose. “The fences and gates are there to protect the students from what is potentially a dangerous area. Construction sites by their nature contain trip hazards, sharp objects, steep slopes etc.,” he said.
They are trying their best though to make things as easy and as organized as possible for the students. Caranfa noted that they have tried to accommodate the student needs and have worked with the residence life staff in designing the fence. “During move in and move out weeks we open the gates so students can drive up to the building,” he said.
There is not much that Cabrini students can do about the fences, they are up for safety reasons, and for everyone who thinks that they might be coming down soon, think again because Caranfa also said that the fences must remain until the project is complete, which is going to be sometime next summer.
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Posted to the web by Shane Evans
