Fence built behind AZD halts walkers
Syracuse University installed a fence Monday blocking the walkway between Shaw Hall and College Place, behind the sorority house of Alpha Xi Delta.
The fence was constructed after SU decided to build a second one running along Comstock Avenue to prohibit jaywalking. That fence has yet to be completed.
‘We are suffering from SU’s decision,’ said Deanna Phillips, house mother of AZD. ‘The university was worried about jaywalking, but instead of the students going around our house, they were cutting through our property.’
The fence is one of many campus projects that have taken place this year, The Daily Orange reported Oct. 8. After AZD filed complaints to SU’s Office of Campus Planning, Design and Construction about the increased traffic, SU posted signs instructing walkers to cross at Euclid Avenue.
AZD’s house, located on the corner of Euclid and Comstock Avenues, is privately owned property. Phillips said when she told students that, they would either ignore her or make insulting comments.
Despite the barrier, Phillips said students are still finding ways to avoid the fence.’I saw a student get on a cement block and jump over the fence,’ Phillips said. ‘Someone could really get hurt now that the weather is becoming cold and icy.’
Phillips added that she thinks some students are so used to not having the fence there that they don’t even see it.
‘Some people have walked right into the fence,’ she said. ‘It’s become habit for students to walk that way.’
Sisters in AZD have had their cars parked in the lot behind the house vandalized, Phillips said. They’ve also woken up some mornings to find graffiti on a few of their vehicles.
Phillips said students have used mud to draw curse words and phallic symbols on the sorority sisters’ cars.
Despite the problems she and the sorority as a whole have encountered, Phillips said she believes the traffic pattern will change.
‘Eventually students will know they can’t walk there and it won’t be an issue,’ she said. ‘But right now, the traffic is ridiculous. Hopefully it will diminish over time.’
Published on October 29, 2008 at 12:00 pm
