As the semester comes to an end, Eastern’s university housing and dining services will keep busy during the semester break making sure residents leave their rooms in the right condition and working on renovations.

Mark Hudson, the director of university housing and dining, said during the semester his department will turn down the heat in order to keep heating costs low, but not low enough where it would hurt any of the buildings. He said they usually keep the temperatures in the upper 50s or lower 60s in non-occupied buildings. Those buildings that are still occupied during the break will remain at a comfort level around 70 degrees.

Hudson said there is a list of duties residents must do before leaving for break. One of those duties is to make sure all windows are closed and locked to prevent pipes from freezing and flooding rooms.

Cameron Craig, Eastern’s climatologist and geographer, said temperatures this winter will not be as a high as last year. He said he forecasts temperatures to be mild during the semester break.

Students should also empty their trash cans to keep away bugs and to minimize health concerns, unplug everything except for refrigerators and aquariums, make sure their rooms are clean, check for fire hazards, close curtains if the resident lives on the ground level, turn off all the lights and make sure smoke detectors are working.

Hudson said there will be a minimum of two staff members per room to conduct safety and security checks of all rooms to ensure all the items on the list are completed by the residence. If rooms are left with excessive trash, students will be charged.

The university housing and dining staff highly recommends students unplug all computer equipment. They said staff will not unplug anything that residents do not unplug. Sometimes power will go out over breaks and power surges can occur.

Other than making sure residences are left in proper condition, staff will keep busy cleaning and renovating. Hudson said they clean suite bathrooms, including Greek Court and Stevenson Hall, which are normally cleaned during the year by the residents. He said they also clean large areas, such as dining carpets that are harder to do during the semester.

“We will also be continuing to work on the room renovations in Lawson,” Hudson said. “Other than Pem, when we finish Lawson, we will have completed the room renovations in all the halls.”

If residents of Douglas Hall, Lincoln Hall, Stevenson Hall or Thomas Hall and plan to stay during the semester break, students need to contact their director by Dec. 17 for permission to stay. The charge for staying during the break is $80 per week.

Residence halls and Greek Court will close at 6 p.m. Dec. 19 and re-open at 9 a.m. Jan. 9.

Margaret Langevin can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].