Most students at Villanova pay the same tuition fee to live and study here, but not many students realize that others are getting more for their money.  Since the start of school, Stanford Residence Hall has experienced multiple maintenance problems that have greatly affected the lives of students. 

    As the only high-rise residence hall on South campus, Stanford’s plumbing has experienced some major problems. Since the start of school, the women’s bathroom on the third floor has flooded three times.  Each time this has happened, the residents directly outside the bathroom have had to deal with water damage in their rooms. 

         We have only been at school for three months. If the bathroom continues to flood once a month, imagine the costs that these residents will have to pay to replace their damaged items. 

    Stanford resident Julia Lavelle said, “It’s hard to be mad because everyone has been so kind and helpful about the situation.” 

      But what is the Villanova staff going to do to stop the flooding? Lavelle and her roommate had to pay for the replacement rug in their room and have had to deal with water damage for several days after each flooding. 

   Other residents on the third floor had to replace even more items out of pocket. Residents on the third floor of Stanford received an email from Jen Fleckenstein, a member of Residence Life staff, regarding what maintenance is planning on doing about the problem.

     The email stated that the staff would be installing stainless steel hair catch baskets in the showers that are to be emptied by the janitors during regular cleanings.

    The theory that hair is the problem is just that: a theory. 

   Why is there only flooding in one of the girls bathrooms on the third floor? Doesn’t every girls bathroom have hair in the drains? 

    The email also stated that since the toilets were replaced this summer, there shouldn’t be an issue with them.    

   The toilets would not be the reason for backup and flooding; the pipes would. Replacing the toilets isn’t going to do much other than making the bathrooms a little nicer. And with the flooding problems come other issues. Every time the bathroom floods, an entire hallway of girls have to share the bathroom on the other side. 

    This means that roughly 40 girls have to share two showers and two stalls, which is an absurd inconvenience for every resident affected. Aside from obvious problems associated with the flooding, residents on the third floor have also found mold on their walls and ceilings in the recent weeks. 

      Some of the water-damaged rooms had the mold removed for them, but even rooms not affected by water were contaminated and had to be cleaned by staff and residents. 

    Other students have complained of rats and ladybug infestations in their rooms, leaving residents in Stanford wondering where exactly their room and board money is going. 

   Vicki Vicente, an RA on the third floor of Stanford, said it best, “On top of everything else that we as students have to worry about, our rooms getting flooded should NOT be one of them. I want you all to see your room as a welcoming, safe place to go at the end of long nights and it pains me to see our hall in this state.” 

    Hopefully the University is able to fix these problems for freshman soon. 

No student should have to go through what the third floor of Stanford has, especially with the price they pay to live there.