You have got to be kidding

[Dark Psion]

The college I work at won a contract with the state's Department of Corrections to host it's training of future corrections officers. Since this is statewide, they rented an entire building of our student apartments. But they needed some things changed.

First, they wanted to host more cadets, so we removed the full sized beds and replaced them with 2 twin beds in each bedroom. They provided the twin beds, so it was only a matter of figuring out where to store the full sized beds for us.

Then it was the locksets. We use key cards on the apartments since they are so easy to reprogram and replace, but for some reason these were unacceptable for them. So we had to replace all the locksets on their one building with keyed locksets, and this time we had to pay for the change.

There have been several other things; we had to shuffle around the office spaces so they could use some and some of the changes were things that really needed to be done anyway; new paint, new carpet, etc.

But the most recent "request" was ridiculous!

They want all the ceiling fans removed from their apartments.

Why? Because they are afraid a cadet will accidentally put their hands up in them.



As you might guess, the room's light is in the ceiling fan, so we would not only have to remove the fan, remove the switch, but also buy and instal new light fixtures and possibly rewire in a new switch. We just built two new apartment buildings and had to redo all of the plumbing fixtures because all the bathrooms were done wrong, who knows what problems lurk in the walls of the older buildings.

And of course, when they leave, we would have to put back everything they have changed; the beds, the locksets and now ceiling fans.

And who knows what will be next?

[Trixie]

I'm guessing that these cadets will be trained in firearms, but a ceiling fan is too dangerous? Wow.

[csquared]

It is funny that college kids can manage to keep their hands out of the ceiling fans (I am assuming this as I figured if one did put his/her hand in the fan, you would get sued and have to take them out), but we can't trust future correction officers to be that smart.

Kara,
Are your incoming co-workers really that bad? I guess we might be seeing more COC stories from you.

[MoonCat]

Where are they recruiting students from? Morons Anonymous? Yeeesh.

[Sapphire Silk]

They want all the ceiling fans removed from their apartments.

Why? Because they are afraid a cadet will accidentally put their hands up in them.

WTF?? If they're that stupid, then they don't need to be around dangerous criminals.

[TechieGirl87]

If they're making you change the ceiling fans, which will require rewiring the lights, I'd see about forcing them to pay for the changes. Either that or tell them to shut up and deal because you've already made plenty enough changes for them

[KhirasHY]

Honestly, I'd feel better if they asked to leave the fans in, but make them more dangerous. If someone applying for a job like DoC doesn't have the mental fortitude to know not to put their fingers in a ceiling fan, I'd prefer they not be given any type of authority. Ever.

Their new position is East Appalachian Turd Farmer from now on.

Yeah, DoC needs to foot that bill either way, because that crap is just ridiculous overall. Does not bode well for this new group of cadets being winners...

[ADeMartino]

It isn't that the DoC actually believes the cadets are stupid enough to put their hands in a fan. Sure, accidents DO happen, but guaranteed this was motivated by some bureaucrat in a cubicle farm in some insurance company somewhere.

[Marmalady]

Where I come from, this is known as 'holding out your pudding for treacle' - i.e., having been done a favour / given something free / had arrangements specially made for you, you then start asking for even more as if entitled to it.

[PepperElf]

personally i'm just thinking... why does YOUR company have to pay for any of these changes?

[EricKei]

I'm with Pepper -- if they are renting out your building, which is being changed ONLY because of their requests, they need to pay for it, or else obtain a grant of some sort to cover the expenses to make the changes and later revert them. I say this because their changes will NOT add any value to the building, and will cause your school to incur additional costs once they're gone. if they were to rent it "indefinitely" (say, a guarantee of all rooms paid for whether they are occupied or not, for a duration of no less than 20 years), that would be different.

[thehuckster]

I've put my hand in a ceiling fan once after I stretched my arms a little too far up.\. The worst I got was a bruise.

Unless the fan is made out of razor sharp metal or is spinning at 5,000RPMs I don't see what the big deal is.

[EvilEmpryss]

As you might guess, the room's light is in the ceiling fan, so we would not only have to remove the fan, remove the switch, but also buy and instal new light fixtures and possibly rewire in a new switch. We just built two new apartment buildings and had to redo all of the plumbing fixtures because all the bathrooms were done wrong, who knows what problems lurk in the walls of the older buildings.

I'm right there with you on the WTF, but dealing with the ceiling fans that *might* be much easier, depending on how they're wired.

Option 1:
Open up the power switch (the one on the wall) and (if the fan and the light have different wall switches) remove the wire running power to the fan and cap the wires to prevent it from being turned on. When they leave, go back and reverse the procedure.

Option 2:
Remove the little pull chain that turns the fan on. This allows people to use the light switch to turn the light on, but they can't access the fan. When they leave, reattach the chain. To ensure no on gets tempted to get creative and try to pull a little three-ball length of chain, stick a piece of something like poster tack to the last ball and tuck it into the hole in the fan. When they leave, fish the chain back out and reattach the longer pull chain.

Either of these has got to be much easier than replacing the whole unit.

[Dark Psion]

personally i'm just thinking... why does YOUR company have to pay for any of these changes?

Because the "Fiscal Cliff" and now the "Sequester" have inflicted big hits on the college's funding. They are not allowing ANY money to be spent right now.

The girls Basketball team made it to the NJCAA Tournament and they are trying to figure out if they can afford the gas to drive to Kansas. They actually considered not going.

And you ask, "Then why would they spend money on the DoC?" Because the contract is worth that much over ten years.

[EricKei]

Psion-- I think PE was asking why the college (="your company") should have to pay, rather than the DoC.

And you ask, "Then why would they spend money on the DoC?" Because the contract is worth that much over ten years.

That's sorta what I was going for -- If the tenants (the DoC) agree, in writing, to pay enough such that the money paid *over their entire stay* will exceed the cost of the changes *and reversions* by a not-insignificant amount, then yes, it could be a good deal. This assumes that the tenants will have to pay whether they have any trainees living in a given room or not.

However, this could easily cause the place to break even or lose money if such a condition is not in place (or if they violate the agreement).