Students have complained about the number of elevators not working and are asking the administration to remedy the problem.”The elevator in Long Hall is down twice, maybe three times a month,” Joey Chircop, freshman from Franklinton and Long Hall resident, said. “It is a pain because I live on the eighth floor, and that is a lot of stairs to walk up.”

Jerry Sanders, director of disability services and testing, said elevator troubles pose serious problems for students in wheelchairs.

“Some disabled students can walk up the stairs just like everyone else,” Sanders said. “But students in wheelchairs rely on the elevators to get them to class or wherever they need to go.”

Other buildings on campus that have frequent elevator problems, according to students, include Talbot, Peltier and Ellender halls.

“The (Ellender Hall) elevator is broken like once a month,” Ebonie Jones, business freshman from New Orleans and Ellender Hall resident, said. “If someone lives on the fourth, fifth or sixth floor, and they have to carry something, they have to walk it up.”

Jamie Eugene, freshman from St. Rose, said she often experiences problems with the Peltier Hall elevator.

“It is too slow and it stinks,” Eugene said. “It only has two floors to go. It shouldn’t take that long.”

Mike Davis, assistant vice president for business affairs for procurement and physical plant operations, said the University attempts to respond to out-of-order elevators as quickly as possible.

“We normally get them up and working within 24 hours,” Davis said. “As soon as we hear about a problem a call goes to maintenance, and an electrician will be sent to fix the problem. If it is something he cannot handle, a call goes out to our contracted maintenance service.”

Davis said he has heard of complaints this semester, but does not consider the number of complaints to be higher than past semesters.

According to Davis, the Long Hall elevator had been an ongoing problem, but after a servicing a few years ago few problems have been reported.

“It is not that we have not had any complaints, it is just not that we have had anything out of the ordinary,” Davis said. “We are not seeing a pattern of problems with the elevators.”

Davis said students have to understand that elevators are mechanical devices and will experience problems periodically. Problems that arise can be attributed to normal use. They can also be caused by misuse by passengers.

“Something like a door opening mechanism can wear out from use,” Davis said. “Also, someone getting out of an elevator can, intentionally or accidentally, kick a door and send the elevator out of service.”

“I think a lot of the problems are caused because students do not respect them,” Chircop said. “Anyone can reset it easily, and several kids just try their best to break them.”

According to a University maintenance representative, there were no elevators out of service at press time, but did say there are ongoing problems with the handicap lift located in Talbot Hall.

Davis agreed that the handicap lift in Talbot Hall has been a problem and needs to be replaced. A new lift will cost the University around $220,000. Davis said the University is in the process of allocating the funds needed for this project.