Bring Joy, Bewilderment to Many
Santa didn’t forget his student apartments residents this Christmas. Many persistent — or just lucky — juniors received new stoves from facilities upon returning from break in January. If they submitted a work order through FlowPath, residents of student apartments would received the new appliance.
“They changed a very gross, rusted stove to a very, very [attractive] one, and all it took was [my roommate] sending in a work order for it.,” said Kat MacDonald, junior psychology major. MacDonald and Penelope Pulsone, junior drama/classics major, also received a new refrigerator from the facilities dept. . When asked about her fridge, MacDonald said, “Now that [one] is beautiful. Our old fridge was very ugly; pretty awful. We’re pretty sure it had mold. Everything in the kitchen was rusted and gross; you couldn’t seem to clean it enough.”
Some students were in even more dire need of a stove replacement. Deedee Herrington, junior theology major, says that last fall, “The coil of our stove caught on fire! It was one of those old white ones. They fixed those quicker than any other work orders, in maybe two weeks.”
The appliances proved worth the wait, since Herrington and her roommates also received a new fridge. “We only requested the stove, and they’re good quality; they’re stoves that are meant to last. Sometimes they put in furniture, and you’re like, ‘this isn’t gonna last for four years!’ But [the stove] is stainless steel.”
Junior theology major Emma Hunter, another squeaky wheel who got the oil, recounts that “I complained about it and I got one. But they brought us two [stoves], and the stove we got had holes in it. They replaced not only our oven but our fridge. They’re really nice; we have a double-layer oven now!”
Indeed, facilities seems to have been extra generous with students, handing out unrequested fridges like candy. Katherine Gonzalez, junior theology major, requested new drip pans for her stove and ended up receiving a new stove and a fridge to boot. “It was nice, but it wasn’t necessary. There was a piece of the [fridge] shelf insert that was snapped off; they just opened our fridge and looked at it and said, ‘Oh, we’ll get you a new fridge.’” Gonzalez remarks that, while she is grateful for the upgrades, “I felt that this wasn’t really a necessary use of money, since all we needed were new drip pans.”
Generations of UD students have prized the new freedom that student apps life affords them. An anonymous senior reminisces on days spent in the student apps of yore, saying, “Maintenance was an issue, but not as much as I’ve heard about now. When we arrived in mid-August, there were no batteries in the AC; we fixed it ourselves. Other than that, everything else was fine.”.
Brennan Schmediecke, junior physics major, cooks for himself in his apartment. He said, “I have greatly appreciated it. It’s a very valuable life skill to learn, and it’s very rewarding to put stuff I’ve sort-of known into actual practice.”
The upgraded appliances, whether asked for or unasked for, have allowed upperclassmen to embrace the domestic joys that the apps offer. Hunter praised her double oven, saying, “Because it’s two layers, you can set the layers to different temperatures and bake two things at the same time. It also has a Shabbat mode!”
Herrington and her two roommates have enjoyed cooking for each other. “We all buy groceries together, so it’s nice that there’s a bigger fridge.” Describing their family-style cooking system, Herrington said, “It’s nice to know you can come back and there’s a meal ready. When people come over, since it’s a group meal, all we need to say is, ‘We have leftovers; come and eat!!’”