By Lyndsey Gilpin
Several days after the flood, Sarah Platt, an incoming freshman, received a strange e-mail. Apparently, her schedule had changed. She logged on to ULink, checked her classes and found that nothing had actually changed.
That’s just the beginning of the confusion.
New students at the University of Louisville have to endure something very different this semester. Classrooms have changed locations several times, possibly ending up back at the original place. The Houchens building, the site of many important offices for incoming freshmen, is being completely renovated, and signs are placed every few steps along the sidewalks around campus.
“I had to get my student ID in Davidson before school started. I went to a few wrong rooms before I made it to the right one. But the faculty kept up the pace and were getting students their IDs quickly. And it didn’t seem to mess anything up,” said Platt.
The university is trying to make do with what they have and avoid as much chaos as possible. However, three days before school began, many students were still at a loss as to what they were to do about textbooks and classroom utensils.
Austin Schwenker, a freshman biology major, received an e-mail after the flood that the chemistry building his class was in had been flooded and all the lab manuals were destroyed. They had to reprint new ones, but he has still not gotten word of when the class will receive them.
In addition, there are the signs. Hundreds of holes are poked in the university’s landscaping, with signs listing building names and room numbers. Arrows point in every direction. For some students, the signs are worse than any of the damage.
“I have to read every sign carefully. I don’t even know where half of the stuff is. I feel like I’m being pointed somewhere different every time I walk on campus.” said Andrew Becht, a freshman biology major. “Also, all the hose lines and piping going into the buildings worry me. No one knows what they are for.”
It will be a stressful and messy first two months for everyone at the University of Louisville, particularly the incoming freshmen. But it seems as though the pieces will be picked up eventually, just as they have been during several other traumatic weather events in the past year.
