<p>For those of you familiar with Super Suite Bedrooms…We have been looking online at Super Suites for Fall 2012. I have heard that some of the Super Suite bedrooms do not have windows. I thought that sounded crazy but I called Housing and the person I spoke to said they were not sure but they thought it was possible based on the building layout that there could be a few without windows. Does anyone know if this is true and which rooms/buildings would have some bedrooms without windows? Thanks!</p>
<p>I will defer to those who may know better but we looked at about 6 different rooms in Ridgecrest and did not see any that were windowless.</p>
<p>That would really bother me if it was true. I’d want to be sure to get one w/ a window for D. Hopefully you could tell during sign up.</p>
<p>I cannot imagine that this would be true, I have never heard of a fire code that would allow a bedroom not to have a window. Maybe I am missing something!</p>
<p>That was my thought too. When I called Housing, I was sure that they would tell me that it was not true but that is not what they said. The person I spoke to is supposed to be checking and calling me back but it makes me a little nervous. I questioned the fire code issue too.</p>
<p>When you look at the room details on the housing website, they actually give you window dimensions and then point out rooms that have deviations in window size. I can’t imagine they’d do that but not point out that a room doesn’t have a window. I’ll be curious to know what you hear when housing calls you back.</p>
<p>All dorm bedrooms have windows…that’s a fire req’t…all bedrooms must have exterior exit…a window.</p>
<p>Which ones are you looking at that you thought didn’t have windows???</p>
<p>The person who answered the phone probably could be a student worker and not know…needing to check.</p>
<p>I asked about all of the Super Suite buildings. The person I spoke to was very nice and helpful. They answered several of my other questions. They are listed on the housing website as being a community director. They said they are “85% sure MOST have windows”. They said today was a busy day due to a large number of visitors with University Days. They said they did not want to give me a definite answer until they checked. I probably won’t hear back today if they are that busy.</p>
<p>i would think fire code would require it.</p>
<p>I can’t think of a bedroom on campus that doesn’t have a window.</p>
<p>The Environmental Health and Safety office can answer any questions about the building code requirements on campus. I can assure you we are in compliance with all applicable codes.</p>
<p>Thanks,
Janine Gascoigne</p>
<p>Thanks so much Janine. I’m going to show my daughter your response. She is nervous because she has heard from several kids that some of the rooms do not. She has the earliest housing selection time slot and will be the one “pulling in her roommates”. She was afraid that she might put another child in a “windowless” room. I didn’t believe it when I heard some didn’t have windows but after calling housing today, I was not sure.</p>
<p>she has heard from several kids that some of the rooms do not. </p>
<p>========</p>
<p>At the risk of offending millions of students, I’ve found that young people often aren’t the best sources for this kind of info. </p>
<p>There are fire-hazard regulations that must be followed…all sleeping rooms must either have an exterior exit door or window. Since few (if any) have exterior exit doors, they must have windows.</p>
<p>College dorms follow some Risk Management and other standardized guidelines (which is why many have the same rules). </p>
<p>Altho it seems odd that the person answering the phone didn’t know this answer right off the bat, it’s happened before that the person answering the phone didn’t know the answer. Last time the question was whether the Riverside “community kitchens” have stove tops (they don’t). </p>
<p>Since UA Housing is reading this thread…I recommend that Bama Housing put together some kind of Excel chart with dorms names running down a column and amenities listed across the top …and then check marks or notes in the appropriate cells indicating whether that dorm has something…or not.</p>
<p>I like the housing spread sheet idea!</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>There aren’t going to be any bedrooms without windows. The RCS layout includes a mixture of 4 person suites, a few 2 person suites, and mechanical rooms. A couple of the rooms have a little different layout than the rest in RCS. I guess if someone looked at the building from outside they might assume that, but that is not going to be the case for safety reasons.</p>
<p>Do any of the rooms have a view of the beach and ocean? (Just kidding)</p>
<p>M2CK,</p>
<p>Ever try to OPEN one of those windows? Unless the student has a crowbar handy or is named Reed Richards, the 2-3 inches won’t be enough. I would guess that students diving onto the courtyard is deemed more of a significant risk than the need for an alternate escape route…</p>
<p>Random fact: the windows on the 13th (top) floor of the soon to be demolished Rose Towers open all the way and do not have screens, but as the building was grandfathered into old building codes, it does not have as many safety features as the newer dorms. It also has couches from the 1970s. ;)</p>
<p>I asked the same question about windows when I first selected housing. The relatively odd footprint of the honors dorms allows for every bedroom and living room to have a window.</p>
<p>Tuscaloosa’s building codes and UA’s master plan provide a lot of insight into why certain buildings are designed the way they are. For example, Riverside only has 4 floors as that is the maximum number of stories Tuscaloosa allows buildings to have without needing a steel superstructure. As Riverside was designed to be used for 10-15 years and then be demolished (Housing has not said if this is still the case), it was built with a wooden superstructure to save money, whereas the other honors dorms (with the possible exception of Lakeside) have steel superstructures.</p>
<p>I can’t help but think that 10-15 year use for Riverside Complex is just some myth that gets repeated. It’s going to be 10 years old soon, and I highly doubt Bama intends to demolish it in a few years…it certainly doesn’t need it. It just doesn’t make any sense…dorms aren’t made of brick just to have them torn down after 10-15 years. I wonder where that story originated.</p>
<p>These stories seem to go around every year. There are not going to be rooms without windows and I don’t believe the story about Riverside either. Last year the rumor went around during AA that the one of the tower’s foundation was unsafe. THIS IS NOT TRUE EITHER. I don’t know how or why these things get started, but the UA is not going to put kids in an unsafe building.</p>
<p>Oh, my, Rose Towers sure gets a bad rap. I imagine those couches from the 70s have seen a lot of action! I hear there was booming business there back in the day.</p>
<p>Rose is on its last days now…it will be demolished this summer.</p>