Picture it, you’re on your way to class after just finishing a tutoring session on the second floor of the Student Affairs Building. You have ten minutes to spare—just enough time to get downstairs and walk to your next destination. You press the “down” button for the elevator. Nothing happens, so you absentmindedly press it again. Now with only seven minutes left until your class starts, you press the button again, but more forcefully this time. Finally, you hear the elevator ding and you watch as the door slides open.
Instinctively, you get in as if nothing happened and press the button that is supposed to take you to the first floor. You stand there and wait for the elevator to start moving, which it doesn’t. After pressing the button a couple more times, nothing happens. At this point, you’re stuck in the elevator and the only thing you can do is press the “call” button and wait for help.
This is a real issue that everyone in the Student Affairs Building has been dealing with lately, but for some reason, nothing seems to be done to solve it, aside from an “Out of Order” sign taped to the door. The other day, I got stuck in the elevator with two of my co-workers and I had to call for help. When the woman on the other side of the phone answered, she seemed to be very surprised and confused when I told her we were stuck, even going as far to ask “What do you mean you’re stuck in the elevator?” I mean, was there really any ambiguity in the issue I was describing to her?
We ended up getting out when our supervisor pressed the down button from the outside. I understand that it’s not always easy to manage the upkeep of campus, especially when some of the buildings aren’t exactly the most modern. But, I do have an issue when it takes over a week to fix the problem. While there are stairs available to use, not everyone can take them. In addition, getting stuck in an elevator can become a dangerous situation very quickly and the safety of students and faculty should be a major priority. If people don’t feel safe in an elevator—in any of the buildings on campus, such as Mailman Hollywood— and they make it known, there should be steps taken to remedy the problem before an accident happens.
Since this piece was written, the elevator in the Student Affairs building has been fixed. However, it was still out of order for a week. Student concerns over the safety and efficiency of the elevators on campus still stand.
