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The Daily Tar Heel

A/C Breaks; Granville West Bakes

Residents rely on ice cream, fans to cope.

The air conditioning has not been fully functional in Granville West -- which houses about 400 students -- since last week, so many residents have been taking dips in the Granville pool to cool off.

Sophomore Crystal Lee, who was on her way to the pool Thursday, said she is not happy with the way officials have been dealing with the problem. "The thing that really pisses me off is they won't tell us when it will be fixed," she said.

Dennis Erny, Granville's general manager, could not be reached for comment. Other building officials refused comment. A sign in Granville West apologizes to the residents.

"We are very sorry about the problems we are experiencing with the air conditioning at this time," it states. "We assure you that we are working to get this problem resolved as soon as possible!"

Lee said that she is used to the hot temperatures because she lived in Hinton James Residence Hall last year but that she did not expect this degree of heat in her Granville West room. Other students said they want some kind of compensation for the lack of air conditioning.

"I'm really mad about it because I was complaining to people on South Campus, and they said they're used to it," said sophomore Lauren Wright. "But they pay a lot less."

Freshman Louise Woltz said she received some help from Granville officials. "They got us Ben and Jerry's gift certificates -- it was really nice of them." But ice cream did not make up for the lack of cold air, Woltz said. She said she now has fans in her room to try to combat the heat.

Wright said she also brought some fans to help cool the room while the air conditioning is getting fixed. Maintenance workers made the situation slightly better, Wright said, but her thermometer still read 85 degrees in the room. "It was completely off for a while, but then they got it on a little, but it's still real hot," she said.

Meteorologist Scott Sharp of the National Weather Service said temperatures this summer have been hotter than usual for central North Carolina. "It's been a bit oppressive because of how many hot days we've had," he said. "We've had 61 days of 90 degrees and hotter."

In the past, summers have only brought an average of 34 days with temperatures that high, Sharp said. Even though a cold front should bring temperatures down to the 80s next week, he said, the next couple of days will remain hot.

"It is not unusual to see 90 to 92 degree days this time of year, but to have this many at 95 or 96 is a bit unusual," Sharp said.

Woltz said that in the meantime, she has been relying on fans for an escape from the heat.

Woltz said, "They're working on fixing it, but this is when we really need the air conditioning."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.

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