Dylan Comeaux, computer science sophomore, was rudely awakened Jan. 16 in his East Laville Hall dorm room. “The ceiling collapsed over my half of the room,” Comeaux said. “Huge chunks of plaster, dust and concrete fell on me but didn’t injure me.” This was not the first time Comeaux and his roommate, Robert Vennen, animal sciences sophomore, had problems with their dorm room’s ceiling because Residential Life’s attempts at repairing the problem proved inadequate. Vennen, who has lived in the basement room for two years, said the ceiling has fallen twice and leaked once. Vennen said the first time it fell was Nov. 4, 2007. It leaked during the 2006 winter break. He said the first portion that fell was 8 feet by 3-1/2 feet while the second collapse, which occurred in a different part of the room, was in a 3-foot circle. The problems are being caused by a steam trap in the mechanical room next door to the students’ room, said Steve Waller, director of the Department of Residential Life. The steam trap, which is used to heat the building, failed and allowed steam to leak into the cavity above the room, which then cooled and caused moisture to collect on the ceiling, Waller said. He said the wet plaster could not support the extra weight and therefore collapsed. Waller said the Residential Life maintenance staff patched the ceiling after its first collapse in November. He said the maintenance supervisors surveyed the repair and “based on the assessment at the time, they felt the roof was safe.” The steam trap was scheduled to be fixed, but the replacement parts had not yet arrived before the ceiling collapsed for the second time, Waller said. Comeaux said he is displeased with Residential Life’s handling of the situation in both incidents. He said he feels the department put him “in harm’s way because of a lack of knowledge of the situation.” Vennen said Residential Life should have made sure the problem was fixed. He said he does not trust the rooms are safe, and he has subsequently moved off campus. He is going through the appeals process to get a refund for the semester. Vennen also said he was not offered an alternative living arrangement after the ceiling leaked during the 2006 winter break. He was told to just let the ceiling dry out, he said. Although no one was injured in either collapse or the leak, Comeaux said his glasses broke during the second incident. Waller said he will be compensated.  Waller said they found about six to eight other faulty steam traps throughout the Residential Life system when they turned on the steam this fall. He said the steam leaks usually escape through the door, unlike what happened in Vennen and Comeaux’s room. Comeaux was relocated to another room in East Laville, but he hopes to move out of the Residential Life system as soon as possible. Waller said the ceiling in the room will be fixed once the plaster has dried. He said he expects the steam trap to be repaired sometime this week.
—-Contact Emmy Gill at [email protected]