In the afternoon, the right Morgan elevator is not working. It was working this morning, but then this morning the left one was stuck on the 11th floor. As Vanderbilt dedicates so much time, concern and money to the beautiful new Freshman Commons for future students, present students seem forgotten after several weeks of unreliable elevators, which no one seems to bother to repair properly.

The elevators of Highland Quadrangle, which require swiping cards to operate and move very slowly, already drive students crazy. Coming up from the basement, there is always that little drop and pause, causing a second’s doubt of whether the elevator will manage to lift. They are particularly frustrating compared to the Towers elevators, which do not require cards and move much more quickly. Now, Morgan and Lewis residents often find that instead of waiting for one of two very slow elevators, it is an even longer wait for the one elevator that is working. At least we have enough time to get our cards ready.

Granted, residents can take the stairs rather than complain and wait, and we do.

“Sometimes I take the stairs even though I live on the 11th floor,” said junior Megan Eckardt, a resident of Morgan House.

Yes, climbing to the top of Morgan will not kill us, but we have been living with dodgy elevator activity for weeks without either a permanent repair of both elevators or even so much as an explanation.

“Maintenance doesn’t tell me why,” said resident advisor and graduate student Erika Schlemmer. “I hear it happens every year, but we don’t talk about it—they just break.”

If area maintenance supervisor Roger Mangrum is not on duty when an elevator breaks down, it is the RA.’s job to call the Emergency Maintenance Service.

“Once, when the elevator broke at eight, I called E.M.S. to tell them, and they asked if was really an emergency. I said yes, hundreds of students had to get to class in the morning. They did come quickly, though,” Schlemmer said.

To Vanderbilt’s credit, Mangrum and E.M.S. respond rapidly to elevator problems. This week, when a Lewis elevator stopped working, the few students inside were trapped for only 10 minutes.

However, due to repeated problems, the underlying problems with the Highland elevator system are more serious than quick service repairs can solve. Rather than rely on maintenance to patch up the elevators each time they break, Vanderbilt should improve or replace the system so that it becomes more reliable.

Despite the need, they are no plans in the works to more permanently repair or replace elevators, as far as Schlemmer knows.

“Today when I went to class, I pressed one and five lit up, so then I pressed two, hoping it would let me off there, but then seven, six, four and three lit up also,” said Eckardt. “Basically everything except one.”

Given the amount of resources invested in the construction of the Commons, the excuse that improved or new elevators are too expensive or that they receive too much use to make extensive repairs worthwhile is not sufficient.

Morgan and Lewis residents should not expect elevators to be broken or have to worry about getting stuck in an elevator, making us late to class. We will never live in the wonderful Commons that we hear so much about; the least Vanderbilt could do is make sure our elevators work most of the time.