The dorms and dining halls of the revamped Newing College have some students complaining.
Since 2008, Binghamton University tore down the original five dormitory buildings and one dining hall of Newing College and replaced them with four new dormitory buildings and a new dining hall.
Jen Hertz, a sophomore majoring in accounting, called the layout and organization of the Chenango-Champlain Collegiate Center, the new dining hall, inadequate.
“The setup is terrible for so many reasons,” Hertz said. “It’s easy to steal because the grill is behind the cash register, there’s never any food, there’s always a long line. It literally takes an hour to get a sandwich.”
Hertz also said the hours Chenango-Champlain is open are too limited for students who wish to use its PODS printing stations.
“The hours aren’t good for a students’ work schedule because the PODS close early and open late on the weekends, making it hard to do work,” Hertz said. “I usually wind up going to the [Glenn G. Bartle] Library because they are never open when I need to print.”
Newing’s new dormitories have also garnered mixed reactions from residents.
Several complained about the gaps between their ceilings and the top of adjoining walls, making it easy to hear their next-door neighbors.
“The gaps in the walls breach confidentiality and what residential assistants are trained to maintain because neighbors can hear everything you say next door in a normal tone of voice,” said Becca Allison, a third-year RA and a senior majoring in psychology.
Macon Fessenden, a sophomore majoring in environmental studies, said he was excited about the new buildings’ green efforts, which include bathrooms with low-flush toilets, eco-friendly paint and automatic energy-saving lights. The bathroom lights are activated by motion-sensors, and key cards use electricity to unlock doors.
“We’re always rated green as a campus, but we could be more so and the new Newing really is,” Fessenden said.
But Eli Portman, an undeclared freshman, said the electronic card access and motion-sensor lights posed difficulties for Orthodox Jewish students who have religious-based objections to using electricity on the Jewish Sabbath.
Steve Colesanti, a senior majoring in cinema, has lived in both the old Newing dormitories and now the current ones and he said the new dormitories are much better.
“There’s no comparison between the two. It’s like moving from a run-down motel to a five-star hotel,” Colesanti said.
Hertz said she thought the old Newing had a better “college atmosphere.”
“The old Newing was 100 million times better because it had more of a sense of community,” Hertz said. “Even though the other buildings were old, they were built so much better for college living.”