Students who spend any time in campus elevators may occasionally notice certificates indicating that the elevator is well past its inspection date. University maintenance officials indicate that there is often no cause for alarm.

The reason for this is usually due to paperwork, and does not reflect the elevator’s safety, said Mike Thompson, Assistant Director of Facilities Administration and Planning.

“There’s a very limited number of state inspectors, so there might be a short time between when the elevator is due for inspection and when it gets inspected,” Thompson said. “Also, there’s a lag between when the elevator gets inspected and when the new certificate comes in. There might be a delay in paperwork because the state inspector has to sign it and send it back.”

Elevators with expired tags don’t seem safe, said Maggie Peake, sophomore.

“(An elevator) might be broken, and no one knows,” Peake said. “There could be a hazard. I wouldn’t feel safe getting in that elevator.”

Expired tags are only an issue if they are long overdue, said Brett Burcham, sophomore.

“If it’s a year past due, that’s one thing,” Burcham said. “Elevator cables have to be checked often because they wear off pretty fast because they are elevator cables. But a few months past due doesn’t bother me.”

The elevators are safe enough to get a safety score of 100, Thompson said.

“There’s an elevator company that services most of the elevators in the state that does maintenance, repairs and inspections in addition to the state inspectors, so the elevator has been inspected more often than the date on the certificate,” Thompson said. “If there was something unsafe about the elevator, then it wouldn’t be running. Elevators carry the public, so they have to be safe for everyone.”

The elevators in Rivers are some of the worst, said Kelly Melton, freshman.

“For the first semester, the elevators were ‘expired’ according to the inspection sheet on the wall,” Melton said. “That, combined with the shaking and creaking, did not make me feel comfortable at all. One of the lights was out for most of the semester and the control panel in one was hanging off.”

Even though the elevators sometime have problems like getting stuck, they are still safe to ride, Thompson said.

“It’s very high odds that someone would get hurt when stuck in an elevator,” Thompson said. “When elevators get stuck, it’s usually because a sensor has detected that it’s at a floor, when it’s not. When that happens, we have a plan in place to get it back working to let the folks out.”

Melton had a scary incident with one of the elevators in Rivers, she said.

“After a power outage from a storm in the first semester, the left elevator in Rivers began to have issues when trying to get to the eighth floor,” Melton said. “My first hint that something was wrong was that it showed two dashes when it reached the eighth floor instead of an eight. Then, instead of letting me off the doors stayed closed for about a minute or so.”

The ‘open door’ button also wouldn’t work, which was worrying, Melton said.

“After considering pressing the call button, which I was reluctant to do seeing as it was late, the elevator moved,” Melton said. “Unfortunately, it moved down a floor at a faster speed than it should. Then, it slowly creaked itself back up to the eighth floor and after a few seconds, let me off.”