Students weary of Physical Plant backlog 'typical' to start of year
A Physical Plant work request backlog has left Elon University students scattered across Danieley Center frustrated by failing facilities ranging from interior flooding to mold-covered ventilators. It’s a recurring problem, one not uncommon to the beginning of the school year when the requests start pouring in, said Paul Holt, maintenance control manager for Physical Plant. From 2012 to 2013, Physical Plant received 24,260 work orders — a number this school year has already exceeded with 26,460 requests placed so far. Dubbed a “beginning of the year bottleneck effect” by Holt, students who have been living with the lingering backlog have been less than content. Sophomores Emily Rawls, Bettina Geissbuehler, Francesca Collins and Doriana Moody moved into a damp Danieley C apartment that smelled of dead fish — a stench later attributed to mold covering the aging apartment’s air filters. “When we moved in, there was this funny, nasty smell for a long time, and we couldn’t figure out what it was,” Rawls said, adding that a hint of mold on the side of her dresser provided a clue.
