Pipes breaking, nonsense

It's New England and it's winter, which means below freezing temperatures. This seems like common knowledge, but apparently some people within the administration don't quite grasp the notion of snow and cold weather.

All over campus, in dorms, apartments and even retail facilities, pipes have been bursting, causing flooding and building damage. In many places this expansion of water within these metal pipes has caused the sprinkler systems to be activated and, in an attempt to fix the pipes without the sprinklers breaking through the ceiling and causing more damage, the fire alarms have been deactivated. This is just a bad situation made worse. As if having to be relocated into Nathan Hale Inn because of water damage to your place of residence wasn't bad enough, now even the people who weren't forced to relocate need to be concerned about a possible fire occurring with no warning for evacuation. The university has pledged to pay for all the damages to laptop computers and wide screen TVs, but can they pay for this huge inconvenience?

We give the university credit for advising people not to put their thermostats below 60 and not to leave windows or doors open, because as stated in a voice-mail alert, "the campus is experiencing some of the coldest temperatures in 20 years." Yet, we at The Daily Campus can't help but wonder, why wasn't better planning done? This point especially becomes valid when investigating the breaking pipes in the new housing. Charter Oak Apartments was the first complex on campus to have tits pipes burst, and also one of the most recent construction projects. Does this not seem strange? Was the university trying to keep costs down or did somebody get confused and think Connecticut has Florida like temperatures in the winter?

Due to the university's lack of planning, it will probably now have to pay more for the fix-up crews than they would've for the initial insulation and/or antifreeze installment. And the poor workmen who are hurriedly trying to fix the problems are getting the brunt of residents' unhappiness, as they are forced to awkwardly key into rooms.

This just proves a little bit of good Northeast winter weather should never be underestimated and students' and staffs' places of residence should never be skimped upon when it comes to insulation. It's New England. The administration should plan accordingly.