Cottages of mayhem

I am disappointed that you, as a representative of the tenants of the Cottages, take no responsibility for the actions of that Friday evening. In point of fact, Transportation Services did not make the call to cancel the bus service for the evening. The property manager made that call. If I were he, I would have made the same decision to protect the safety of the driver and other passengers, and to avoid costly damage to the bus which would, in all likelihood, have to be paid by you and the other tenants.

Another point of fact: Transportation Services contracted to send one bus to the Cottages. If one bus is not enough, the tenants will have to pay additional fees to cover the cost of a second bus, along with the man hours and fuel that entails. You already know how much your rent is. And you know that second bus will only be necessary for the busy party weekends.

I am not a tenant of the Cottages, but based on how tenants and their guests treated the bus, I am not surprised the property manager and ownership chose to amend the Community Center hours. It was a choice between costly damages, the cost of police presence, or closing early. As a fiscally aware tenant, I'm sure you can see the choice was clear.

I hope the the author, tenants and guests at the Cottages, as well as the general university community, will take that weekend as a learning opportunity: if you, your guests, or others who represent you misbehave, there will be consequences. Best to take responsibility and not expect any leniency, especially when risking the safety of others.

Sincerely, Alumna 2007

For example, when the University curtails operations, those in charge at UNH Transportation Services must make decisions about the road conditions and needs of the University Community in order to make sure as many people as possible get home or to their destination as safely as possible. Traffic may alter the planned runs of a bus and UNH Transportation Services must come up with alternative plans to have a replacement available if possible.

With regards to the Cottages Connector, a driver responsible for their vehicle, a dispatcher responsible for the safety of the driver and that vehicle, and the Durham PD all took actions to protect the passengers, the driver and University property. Given the time of evening of the incident that took place, and the needed resources that were not available at that time, (Is Durham PD really going to provide an escort service, or an officer aboard the bus for the entire remainder of the evening?) I'm sure the responsible people determined that the ONLY course of action was to stop the shuttle from running to protect all parties involved. That includes passengers.

There are other services, NOT provided by the University, and for hire, that will certainly take students from the downtown bars/frats/party scene to the cottages. Its called Sunshine Taxi, they operate out of Dover, and when I was a student I took it frequently back to my apartment in Dover.

I now live in Washington, DC, and am solely responsible for my own actions and decisions, and always carry an emergency $20, just in case I miss the public transportation options, or they fail (Snowmageddon) and have to hail a cab. I am also always prepared to walk if need be, and I live a solid 5 miles from the bar district in the city. I usually do not let my decisions at the bar make it so that I have to rely on option 3 but I realize these are the choices I make.

Part of the UNH experience is definitely outside the classroom. Freshmen make mistakes about alcohol all too much, but as students go along they should becoming smarter about their consumption and actions. Take responsibility, even if it is not directly your fault, and admonish those who seemingly ruin it for the mass.

Good lord, can tell this was written by the landlord! Dear author, this article reflects the life at the cottages very well. The situation with the trash disposal it despicable, and if the residents are responsible I think not. They get fined if trash is left near doors. The bus issue was chaotic, but who can say that couldn't have happened elsewhere on campus. We all know the incidents that occur at the gables and down town. Removal of the buses on the weekend isn't a solution, it will promote drunk driving and foot travel during dangerous winter months. Eliminating a bus service the tenants are paying for will make them rowdy and stay at the cottages that is claimed to be getting destroyed. As for the 24 hour community center, agreements were established at the time of lease agreement for this service. This isn't the only failure to follow the lease by the cottages, closing down parties before 11 when lease states 2am, along with landlord being unfamiliar with New Hampshire law and issuing eviction notices with unlawful time and reasoning.