ITS Center hours were modified over the summer. The plan was to eliminate ITS as the only 24-hour public study area on campus and instead close at 3 a.m. The move was made as a result of budgetary considerations, but the change has since been reversed.
“The ITS center will be having the same hours that it has in the past,” Director of ITS Eric Fredericksen said. “This is something we have worked out with the Dean’s office.”
Dean of The College William S. Green confirms this statement. “It wasn’t really a decision to close it,” he said. “It got on a list [of budget cuts] at the end of May and there weren’t students to talk to about it. It’s really necessary to have a 24-hour space to study at any serious university.”
On Tuesday, Speaker of the Senate David Ladon had planned to meet with Fredericksen to dispute the decision. Students’ Association President Matt Goldblatt notified Green of this meeting, and before the meeting even happened, the administration decided to reverse the decision after hearing that students were upset about it.
“This is going to be open,” Green said. “It may take them a week or two to get settled, [but then last year’s hours will resume].”
Students are happy that the decision to close ITS at 3 a.m. did not go through.
“I’ve pulled tons of all-nighters in ITS, so I am definitely happy that this decision did not stand,” junior Rachel Blumenthal said. “If it did, I would just sit in my room and do work, but then I would fall asleep.”
Junior Marc Evanchik agrees. “I really like using the computers late at night in ITS,” he said.
Two students robbed at gunpoint
A male undergraduate was robbed after parking his vehicle in Hill Court Lot at 8:10 p.m. on Sept. 4. Three suspects approached the man from behind, displayed a handgun and demanded the student’s wallet and cell phone.
The suspect removed the money and returned the wallet and cell phone.
The student was not physically injured and reported the incident immediately to a security officer on duty. Shortly after midnight, City of Gates Police apprehended one of three suspects, a 17-year-old man who remains in custody.
Later that night, at 1:15 a.m., a male undergraduate was robbed off-campus, at Seldon and Windsor Streets, as he was talking on his cell phone, walking back to his Eastman School of Music residence from a party.
The suspect approached the student from behind and pressed what the student believed to be a gun to his back and demanded his money.
The student had none, so he gave his cell phone up. He then watched which direction the suspect walked away in before returning to the party to call the police.
“In both cases, the students did the right thing,” Director of UR Security Walter Mauldin said. “Cell phones can be replaced in a day. What can’t be replaced is if someone gets hurt. Both students reported the incident right away.”
According to Mauldin, local police and Security investigators are looking into a possible tie-in between the Gates robbery, the on-campus event and other robberies reported in the greater Rochester area Sunday evening.
“As you go about your daily activities, we encourage you to continue to exercise good safety practices,” Mauldin said. “Students definitely need to continue to be aware of their surroundings. However, these circumstances are odd and the likelihood of it happening again is not high.”
