2008 Woodie Awards
Students Petition Against Control Gates
Amanda Flaherty, Editor-In-Chief
Issue date: 3/10/08 Section: News
As a campus resident, Cassie Muhlbaier has endured 4 a.m. fire drills in the residence halls and what she considers inadequate food in the dining hall. But the senior said the addition of control gates in Lot 5 in front of High Mountain West - which prevent students from driving to their residence halls - was the last straw.
"Because I was so agitated, I started to do some research and ask questions," said Muhlbaier. "I thought about it for a while, and talked to some other students about the situation, and decided that someone needed to do something about it."
Muhlbaier acted by hanging up a petition on her room's door, and creating a Facebook group called "Petition Against the Gates in Lot 5 and Lot 6," which earlier this week had 144 members. With the help of her suitemate, Casey Reznik, Muhlbaier passed around flyers throughout the residence halls asking students to join the group and sign the petition.
The main concern of students is that they can no longer drive their cars up to High Mountain East and West, Hillside Hall, Century Hall, and North Tower. This also concerned the shuttle bus drivers who drive the safe ride route at night as the gates prevent them from dropping off students in front of their residence halls. And students say when they order food, they sometimes have to meet delivery people in Lot 5 if no parking is available for them.
In a letter to residents, Residence Life director Joe Caffarelli said the control gates were part of a master plan that called for the roadway in front of the residence halls to be closed to create a pedestrian walkway. Currently, the only people who have access to open the gates are the University maintenance staff, service, and emergency vehicles.
Based on the comments left by the members of the Facebook group, students have mixed reactions to the gates. Kayla Werner, for example, posted that she sees the gates as both a good and bad thing.
"Yes, it will slow down traffic so that it is safer for people to walk around between the residence halls," said Werner. "However, residents do transport things back and forth from home and the grocery store to their rooms, and some things are heavy, such as cases of water or bags full of laundry. The hill up to High Mountain West also gets very slippery in the winter, which makes it dangerous for people to carry things up and down."
Chris Weiss, the Student Government Association's Residence Life representative, has been working with Muhlbaier to have the problem addressed by the administration. He met with Dr. Glen Sherman, Vice President of Student Development, the administration's point person on the issue. I Weiss's opinion, the administration is concerned about safety and does not intend to inconvenience residents.
"Most importantly, Dr. Sherman very strongly expressed that he is willing to hear suggestions for compromises," Weiss commented.
With all the progress being made, Muhlbaier is not ready to give up.
"Right now I don't think the gates are coming down any time soon. My hope is by the end of this semester and for future residents, that there will be a compromise and the issue will be resolved," said Muhlbaier. "Until then, I'm going to keep this petition going and the group open."
"Because I was so agitated, I started to do some research and ask questions," said Muhlbaier. "I thought about it for a while, and talked to some other students about the situation, and decided that someone needed to do something about it."
Muhlbaier acted by hanging up a petition on her room's door, and creating a Facebook group called "Petition Against the Gates in Lot 5 and Lot 6," which earlier this week had 144 members. With the help of her suitemate, Casey Reznik, Muhlbaier passed around flyers throughout the residence halls asking students to join the group and sign the petition.
The main concern of students is that they can no longer drive their cars up to High Mountain East and West, Hillside Hall, Century Hall, and North Tower. This also concerned the shuttle bus drivers who drive the safe ride route at night as the gates prevent them from dropping off students in front of their residence halls. And students say when they order food, they sometimes have to meet delivery people in Lot 5 if no parking is available for them.
In a letter to residents, Residence Life director Joe Caffarelli said the control gates were part of a master plan that called for the roadway in front of the residence halls to be closed to create a pedestrian walkway. Currently, the only people who have access to open the gates are the University maintenance staff, service, and emergency vehicles.
Based on the comments left by the members of the Facebook group, students have mixed reactions to the gates. Kayla Werner, for example, posted that she sees the gates as both a good and bad thing.
"Yes, it will slow down traffic so that it is safer for people to walk around between the residence halls," said Werner. "However, residents do transport things back and forth from home and the grocery store to their rooms, and some things are heavy, such as cases of water or bags full of laundry. The hill up to High Mountain West also gets very slippery in the winter, which makes it dangerous for people to carry things up and down."
Chris Weiss, the Student Government Association's Residence Life representative, has been working with Muhlbaier to have the problem addressed by the administration. He met with Dr. Glen Sherman, Vice President of Student Development, the administration's point person on the issue. I Weiss's opinion, the administration is concerned about safety and does not intend to inconvenience residents.
"Most importantly, Dr. Sherman very strongly expressed that he is willing to hear suggestions for compromises," Weiss commented.
With all the progress being made, Muhlbaier is not ready to give up.
"Right now I don't think the gates are coming down any time soon. My hope is by the end of this semester and for future residents, that there will be a compromise and the issue will be resolved," said Muhlbaier. "Until then, I'm going to keep this petition going and the group open."
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