The Woods

By Zahra Adni
Staff Writer

The fire in Guerin on Aug. 31 caused a lot of speculation as to when the 97 year old building would be properly restored.
The fire was caused by electrical problems in the basement of Guerin.
Are other buildings on campus in danger of the same thing occurring?
Gordon Afdahl, vice president for Finance and Administration said, “The fire was an isolated case and the other historic buildings on campus are not in any danger.”
While school was out for fall break (Oct. 6-10) Guerin was fully tended to.
The clean-up and restoration was completed and the building was put back to normal. The flooring of the Master of Leadership Development office was completely removed and restored due to damage from the fire.
With all of this replacement and restoration of Guerin the overall cost was taken into consideration.
“There is no final number as to how much the repairs cost”, Afdahl said; “updates [to Guerin] would be extra.”
Precautions have been made to prevent another fire of this kind by cleaning out storage areas in the Conservatory and Guerin basements.
However, there are still areas that need to be addressed.
“If there hadn’t been things in the basement of Guerin then nothing would have burned”, Afdahl said.
Currently all of the offices that had been displaced to the library have gone back to working in Guerin.
IT relocated all of the computers and IKON copiers/printers during fall break.
Guerin is now back to “normal” or at least back to working condition.

Popularity: 17% [?]

By Jade Scott
Editor-in-Chief

After the fire in Guerin Hall on Aug. 31 at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, offices like the President’s Office, Business Office, and others, and classrooms were displaced all over campus.
Some offices were moved to the President’s Room in Rooney Library, some to Hulman Hall, and some to Le Fer. Classes were relocated to the library, Le Fer Hall, and Hulman Hall.
As of Sept. 20 most classes were moved back into Guerin Hall as long as they did not need the use of technology since there were no phone lines or computers ready.
Beginning Oct. 6 and continuing through Oct. 8, IT completion will allow almost all offices and classrooms to return to Guerin Hall.
“In order to make the transition back to Guerin Hall as smooth as possible, the return move has been tentatively scheduled to take place during fall break (Oct. 6 through 8),” said Gordon Afdahl,vice president for Finance & Administration in a campus wide e-mail. “Everyone is expected to return to their previous Guerin Hall location by no later than the end of fall break.”
The first group will consist of the second floor of Guerin offices
Business Office
Financial Aid, Registrar
Vice President for Finance and Administration
Woods External Degree (WED) Office
Faculty
Two IKON printers
The second group of offices to re-enter Guerin Hall will be those on the first floor.
President’s Office
Vice President for Advancement
Human Resources
Office of Advancement
Graduate Director
Two IKON printers
The third and last group to re-enter Guerin Hall will be the offices and residences that reside on the third and fourth floors.
This schedule is tentative and is subject to change. All re-entries depend on IT and whether or not the office/residence is prepared or not.

Popularity: 22% [?]

By Emma Campbell
Staff Writer

A new policy, which took effect at the beginning of the school year, now prohibits guests of students and of the college from renting rooms on the third and fourth floor of Guerin Hall.
For many students, renting a room in Guerin was a cheap alternative for their guests to stay the night on campus. These rooms have also been used to house college employees and volunteers of the Sisters of Providence.
In the past, these rooms were rented at $15 per night.
Due to aged and problematic plumbing, the college has made the decision to end the practice of renting these rooms.
According to Julie Hubbard, assistant director of Conferences and Non-credit Programs, Guerin Hall still has its original plumbing from when it was built in 1913. This makes the plumbing almost a century old.
“The plumbing is original to the building and can no longer be repaired without a major cost to the college,” Hubbard said. “For this reason, it was decided that the strain on the plumbing had to be limited to the staff that are living in the building and the faculty, staff, and students using Guerin as offices and classroom spaces.”
The decision to no longer rent rooms in Guerin Hall is justifiable and was not taken lightly, but the decision does leave some students at an impasse when it comes to housing male guests or large amounts of guests, such as families.
The guest house on campus does offer 18 rooms to be rented by students at a rate of $45 per night.
However, these rooms often fill up quickly with graduate programs, retreats, and other guests that are here on business for the college.
Especially since the fire in the basement of Guerin Hall on Aug. 31, students and staff are reminded of the ages of the buildings on campus. While they are all rich in history and beauty, some of the inner workings have not caught up with times.
“We did take into consideration the convenience and cost savings to students and their guests of staying in Guerin, but the bottom line is the inadequate plumbing in the building doesn’t make this a practical choice for the college,” Hubbard said.
Hubbard noted that all local hotels offer SMWC discount rates, and that guests need only to mention the college while making their reservations.
Hotels in the area include the Hilton Garden Inn (750 Wabash Avenue), Fairfield Inn (475 E Margaret Avenue), Candlewood Suites (721 Wabash Avenue), Days Inn (555 South Third Street), Travelodge (530 South 3rd Street), and others.

Popularity: 24% [?]