FLOODED DORM ROOMS ON STONEHILL CAMPUS

by Shane Caffrey

Rains total of over 7 inches of water fell last week in Easton causing harsh living conditions for Stonehill College Students.

The Cascino Residence Hall basement was flooded for the majority of last week.

“It sucks down here. I need to have flip flops next to my bed so I don’t get soaked,” said Angelo Todesca, 20 from Canton Mass and a Stonehill junior who lives in one of the affected dorm rooms.

Todesca and his roommate Cameron Knights, 21 from Hudson Mass, needed to move most of their personal belongings into their common room to accommodate the wet conditions.

“Its awful down here, I can’t breathe down here because of the mold and smell. It makes it difficult to do focus on doing work when some of your stuff is floating around on the floor,” said Knights.

When some students moved into Cascino Basement they were told by some Stonehill maintenance workers that these rooms were flooded all summer.

“These rooms are the worst on campus, after the summer we needed to get all new furniture down there,” said one maintenance member.

Such a reoccurring problem should be fixed as heavy spring rains could make difficult living conditions. During the most recent rainstorm, students like Knights and Todesca were given industrial dehumidifiers, powerful fans to dry the rugs, and an industrial strength wet-dry vaccum to suck up standing water. As rains continued this week, their room still remains wet and needed to be washed to avoid mold buildup.

“It always get’s wet down here when it rains, its very bad, very bad,” said Teresa, the custodian of the heights for the past several years.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous, I pay $45,000 a year to go to this college and I can’t even sit at my desk without worrying that my feet are going to get soaked, its ridiculous,” said Steve Zanetti, 21 from Ludlow Mass, who lives in the room next to Knights and Todesca.

Some students from the building have refrained from using the common kitchen area in Cascino Basement due to the smell.

“I’m kind of bummed out because I can’t be in those student’s rooms because I feel nauseous if I’m over there. It’s inconvenient for me because they spend most of their in my room to escape their rooms,” said Michael Cooke, 21 from Simsbury Conn, a Cascino resident not affected by the flooding.

Flooding in the common area of the kitchen was fixed during the winter when water seeped through an electrical box attached to one of the walls and flooded part of the common area of Cascino Basement. However flooding in the dorm rooms continues as the spring rains continue. Members of the Stonehill Maintenance crew have spent large amounts of time monitoring the flooding conditions over the past few weeks and continue to use industrial equipment to counteract the water as it continues to seep into the affected rooms.