The official student newspaper of Quinnipiac University since 1929.
QUCHRONICLE.COM
FEBRUARY 17, 2016
VOLUME 86, ISSUE 17
Snow, rain cause issues on Mount Carmel By STAFF REPORTS
See QU in LA Page 4
See SNOW Page 5
A pothole problem
Students concerned about driving conditions on New Road ERIN KANE/ CHRONICLE
New Road is covered in potholes like the one pictured above. Cars swerve while driving down the road to avoid the potholes. By VICTORIA SIMPRI Staff Writer
Some residents of New Road think the Public Works Department is overlooking the pothole problem on the road. The responsibilities of the Public Works Department include fixing potholes, removing trees that may be hazardous to driving conditions and road and curb repair, as stated on its website. Senior Kori MacDonald lives on New Road and uses the road on a daily basis to at-
tend classes during the week. “The condition of New Road is not good,” MacDonald said. “A lot of cars are always swerving into the other lane to avoid potholes.” According to MacDonald, swerving into the adjacent lane can allow you to avoid a pothole but is equally as dangerous. “When you see the car in front of you swerving [to avoid a pothole] you decide if you want to swerve or hit it. You have to look at the oncoming traffic to make sure swerving
is better than going through the pothole, but there’s always that potential danger,” she said. MacDonald said because she drives on New Road every day, her car is slowly being damaged and there will likely be long-term negative effects on the car, rather than if she were to drive on the road every so often. Sophomore Katie Cavallaro commutes to Quinnipiac and is not happy with the condition of the road or the effects that it has had See POTHOLES Page 6
Worried on the West Coast Students robbed while studying in LA Contributing Writer
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“My life was in that MacBook and now I’m scared to even walk around the complex.” – VICTORIA SAHA JUNIOR John Morgan, associate vice president for public relations, said students have to attend an orientation session that goes over safety precautions. “Students who take part in the QU in LA program are required to attend a detailed orientation, which includes reminders about common safety precautions, including closing and locking doors, not displaying personal property publicly and being aware of your surroundings,” Morgan said. Saha said Melissa Karipidis, associate di-
POLL
Victoria Saha and Melanie Nyarko’s Oakwoods apartment was recently broken into, while they continue to spend the semester studying in Los Angeles. A few days after the program’s orientation, Saha and Nyarko were assured that Oakwoods was a safe place and no student was ever robbed. Saha said she first noticed something suspicious when she got back to her apartment one day at the beginning of the semester. “I came back to find my door wide open after I specifically remembered closing it shut— I thought it was my roommate but no one was home,” Saha said. Saha said nothing was missing but she called security because she was scared. She said security told her there were no cameras. About two weeks later, Saha and Nyarko woke up shocked to discover that someone broke into their apartment while they were sleeping. Saha and Nyarko woke up to find all their money and Saha’s MacBook and multiple chargers stolen. “My life was in that MacBook and now I’m scared to even walk around the complex,” Saha said. Victoria’s twin sister, Olivia Saha, who is a junior at Quinnipiac, could not believe her sister and roommate were placed in such an unsafe area. “It is obviously very terrifying thinking about the fact that Victoria and Mel were in
such close proximity with an intruder,” Olivia said. She said that the most upsetting fact about this ordeal is the way the university is choosing to handle it. “Quinnipiac assured the safety and wellbeing of their students in Los Angeles, however failed to properly assess their security measures,” Olivia said.
Have you ever been written up during room checks?
CONNECT
By KATHERINE HANSFORD-ARCE
The Quinnipiac Chronicle
@quchronicle
INDEX
rector of Residential Life at Quinnipiac, told her all Quinnipiac students who are studying abroad in Los Angeles must sign a contract that says the program is not responsible for theft or stolen items. Saha said when Karipidis responded that way, she was so appalled and wondered why Karipidis didn’t take the situation seriously. “When I called Melissa Karipidis and asked how Quinnipiac would have responded if Mel and I were to have been physically harmed, she completely avoided the question,” Saha said. Saha has a balcony view of an elevated parking lot, which is not easily accessible by the public. “Not a lot of people would know the ins and outs of this property unless someone was thorough about the apartments here,” she said. Saha said her apartment is considered to be a luxurious apartment, but it lacks basic security protocols. Quinnipiac program officials promised to move the girls to an apartment on a different floor within three days of the incident. Four days later, they re-postponed the move for another week, according to Saha. “If that doesn’t scream “ridiculous”, I don’t know what does,” Saha said. Oakwoods is not responsible for stolen items, according to Saha. She said Oakwoods did not have enough security. “It’s clear that because of their lack of
Winter weather caused flooding and power outages on the Mount Carmel campus throughout the past few days. The incidents began on Sunday afternoon when a small heating element was tripped off in the Carl Hansen Student Center, according to Associate Vice President for Facilities Operations Keith Woodward. A hallway in the Student Center lost heat, causing a pipe to freeze and a sprinkler head to break. Water started to leak into the area by the ATM and vending machines on the first floor. Facilities closed three conference rooms in Carl Hansen that afternoon and on Monday so that they could dry, but the rooms were open on Tuesday. Monday evening and nighttime snowfall and freezing rain caused the university to cancel shuttles after 10 p.m., except for a limited service between Mount Carmel and York Hill, according to an email from Parking and Transportation Coordinator Shanon Grasso. Freshman Sara Franck had night class on Monday. “It was kind of annoying to get there and it was hailing too, she said. “I think [Tuesday] morning was fine, but I think later classes yesterday should have been cancelled.” Then, a water pipe burst early Tuesday morning in Village 600s, forcing students to relocate to other rooms for the time being. Sophomore Madeline Fitzpatrick lives in the Village 600s building. She said in an email she and her roommates woke up around 4:20 a.m. to the sound of blaring alarms in their building and direct rooms. “We evacuated the building and waited for Public Safety to come and tell us what was going on,” Fitzpatrick said. “Public Safety told us we were fine and to go back to bed. However, the flashing light from the fire alarms continued to go off for about another five minutes.” But eventually Fitzpatrick said she decided to go back downstairs to see what was going on. “They told me there was a large leak upstairs and asked us if the water had began to seep through into our room yet,” Fitzpatrick said. “About 10 minutes later we reopened the main door downstairs to see water rushing down the stairs of the upstairs apartment where the pipe had burst.” She said around 6:30 a.m. Public Safety instructed her and her roommates to pack a bag and go to Residential Life to receive a temporary new room in New Village. Fitzpatrick said Residential Life said they currently do not know when they will be allowed to return to their rooms, but it could be a few days, or a few weeks. Fitzpatrick said she hopes the university will improve the way they handle these types of situations in the future. “Apparently this is a pretty frequent occurrence and the university needs to figure out a better way to handle the pipes in the buildings when the temperature is constantly changing and a better plan as what to do if the pipes do burst,” Fitzpatrick said. The university also called students, faculty and staff around 6:20 a.m. stating classes were cancelled until 9:30 a.m. because of the
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