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Friday, September 08, 2006

an assigment: R-MC and the Power Outage of Ernesto

re-written on 9.12.06:

Ernesto Reveals R-MC's Errors:

    Frustration and fun followed the onslaught of Hurricane Ernesto to R-MC's campus. One student said: "I saw Campus Safety tape one of the doors open, I guess one less thing to deal with." Security blunders like this were committed when electricity failed from 10pm Friday until 9am Sunday due to Ernesto. Other on-campus locations, like the international house, had no power much longer.
    When the bad weather hit, students found their own ways of dealing with all the problems that the storm caused and exposed. Some partied, and apparently "bonding" is what they are calling it these days. Many students cited "heavy Petting" and "drinking beer and milk" as the calmer of the party activities. And while the prim would consider sexual activity as dangerous, your common bartender would warn against alcohol and milk as the more dangerous combination.
    Students went to both extremes though. Some decided to drive back home and take a longer summer vacation; while others moved out into the halls, drinking, dancing and growing closer with their fellow students. This kind of interclass mingling and general socialization are seldom occurrences on Randolph-Macon's campus.
    Other issues included no hot water or AC. This left some students washing in the sink and taking cold showers; while others stripped down to their skivvies and enjoyed the company of one another and their otherwise warming beer. For one student who partook, Hailey Linton, the lights out was a blessing: "I met many women that night" said Hailey, a freshman in Smith Hall.
    Bill Blackmore, the man in charge of freshman orientation, said orientation leaders did a great job keeping control of things. From downed trees to security issues, at least the freshman class was kept mostly on their orientation schedule and further forced through what has been described as "Freshman Hell Week" by the majority of the freshman class.
    MayJean Deem, also a freshman, said she was "a little tiffed," She was frustrated saying: "I paid 36,000 dollars to go to a school and they can't even give me hot water!"
    Things may have been bad for a spot there MayJean, but it gave the campus, falling ten spots to rank 15th in party schools and 18th for beer consumption, ample opportunity to recover some of that lost ground.
    It can be said that Hurricane Ernesto has left the blinds open on the inner workings of Randy-Mac and all the problems akin to its administration, students and staff.
    Not all is doom and gloom there though. It must be said that some were going above and beyond their jobs and holding the sinews of the campus together. The housekeeping crew was posted outside the doors of many of the dorms all night checking IDs and making sure trespassers did not intrude. Estes, the on-campus cafeteria, had generators allowing them to produce their usual quality food; getting a hot, fresh meal to the student body.
    And despite freshman complaining about orientation, some of the mandatory programs were actually cancelled, relieving the need to waste time, effort, and money on what orientation leaders say are "rightfully disinterested students."
    With the return to classes and a sense of "normality" on the first Monday of classes, so returned MaconWeb and the ability to register for those classes. So too did the rest of campus return to something resembling right...
    All except for the international students who are still trapped in their house by fallen power-lines, left to think what they will about our fine country and this; Randolph-Macon, a fine school. ~Shannon Hollender, Senior R-MC

Original Draft:
Here's the assignment you assigned today:
I know it's kinda bad but I did what I could from what perked my ears...

"I saw Campus Safety tape one of the doors open, I guess one less thing to deal with." one student said about the frustration and fun that followed the onslaught of Hurricane Ernesto to R-MC's campus. Power was out from 10pm Friday until 9am Sunday for most of campus, the international house had no power for another day and a half.
When the bad weather hit, students found their own ways of dealing with all the issues that the storm caused. Some partied, and bonded. Citing "heavy Petting" and "drinking beer and milk" as some of the calmer party activities.
Some students went to other extremes decideding to drive back home and take a longer summer. While others moved out into the halls, drinking, dancing and Growing closer with their fellow students, a seldom occurrence on Randolph-Macon's campus.
Other issues included no hot water or AC. This left some students washing in the sink and taking cold showers; while others stripped down and enjoyed the company of one another and their beer. For one student who partied, Hailey Linton, the lights out was a blessing: "I met many women that night" said Hailey, a freshman in Smith Hall.
Bill Blackmore said orientation leaders did a great job keeping control of things
though. From trees being down and security issues, at least the freshman class was kept on their orientation schedule and further forced through what has been described as "Freshman Hell Week" by the majority of the freshman class.
MayJean Deem, also a freshman said she was "a little tiffed," She was frustrated saying: "I paid 36,000 dollars to go to a school and they can't even give me hot water!"
Things may have been bad for a spot there MayJean, but it gave the campus, falling ten spots to rank 15th in party schools and 18th for beer consumption, ample opportunity to recover some lost ground on its slow steady progression towards the bowels of bad school status.
Maybe this opinion of one of R-MC's senior students is not shared. But As far as I'm concerned, Hurricane Ernesto has left the blinds open on the inner workings of Randy-Mac and all the problems akin to its administration and staff.
Not all is doom and gloom here though, it must be said that indeed some were doing their jobs and holding things afloat. The housekeeping crew was posted outside the doors of many of the dorms all night making sure trespassers did not intrude. Estes, the local slop joint produced their usual quality food and were able to serve it hot and fresh for once.
And despite freshman complaining over orientation, some of those programs were actually cancelled, relieving the need to waste time, effort, and money on what orientation leaders say are "rightfully disinterested students."
With the return to classes and a sense of "normality" on Monday, so returned MaconWeb and the ability to register for those classes. So too did the rest of campus return to something resembling right...
All except for the international students who are still trapped in their house by fallen power-lines, left to think what they will about our fine country and this; Randolph-Macon, My fine school. ~Shannon Hollender, Senior R-MC (I stayed because of scholarships)

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