2008 Woodie Awards
Sophomoric first-years deface Milner property, reputation
Lauren Newmeyer
Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: Forum
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Since the middle of first semester, there has been a consistent problem with the cleanliness of Milner Hall, especially the third floor men's room. More than once, the cleaning staff has arrived to work at 5 a.m. only to find urine in malt liquor bottles and plastic cups circling the toilets, and feces smeared on the walls of the stalls.
To add insult to injury, after the third-floor men were fined for these disturbing cases of vandalism, a demeaning letter lashing out at the building services staff was printed and posted on the restroom doors. The anonymous writers accused the cleaning staff for assigning the fine, when in fact the fine was given by Residential Life. They claimed that the building services staff "knew what (they) were getting into when (they) decided to become 'college bathroom cleaners,'" and therefore they shouldn't complain.
The letter went on to say:
"Your definition of cleaning is spraying the surface with alcohol and god knows what. Sorry to inform you, but that alone isn't cleaning. Lastly, what about the problem with all the little black flies all over the showers and expanding into the general bathroom? Is that our problem too? I don't think so! How can you tell us to clean or pay when you're not even doing your job? Or is it that you think we enjoy the company in the showers?"
Midway through the semester, third floor men's Resident Advisor (RA) Zac Thayer called a required meeting for all of the male residents to clean the bathroom together. The hope was that after seeing what it is like to clean up after gag-worthy messes that you personally may not have made, the trashing of the men's room would cease. Unfortunately, some men continued to deliberately leave the bathroom in unbearable conditions for the building services staff, which eventually had no choice but to file a report with Residence Life.
Lili Sharpless, the hall director of Milner, and the RAs posted signs calling for a mandatory meeting for all residents at 7 a.m. one morning to clean the entirety of Milner for an hour before classes started. Residents sat through a brief lecture in which role was taken and the third-floor men were informed that they would be fined for the repeated acts of vandalism which not only violate school property but also health code laws. Sharpless and the RAs urged their residents to be more respectful of all shared areas, including the second-floor lounge, which was closed twice last semester due to vandalism and un-cleanliness. They reminded them that if they were in their parents' homes, they would not treat the facilities in this way.
Viewing Comments 1 - 7 of 7
Crosby
posted 2/03/08 @ 8:33 PM EST
Lauren,
I don't agree with, nor apprectiate, the fact that you used "sophmoric" to describe the freshman actions. The guys that were making the bathrooms messy were assholes and the fact that they left a letter proves their immaturity and douche-bagness. (Continued…)
Christopher Havel
posted 2/03/08 @ 9:10 PM EST
I lived in Milner my first year here. It seems a lot has changed... I certainly don't remember any trouble with vandalism or uncleanliness back then.. (Continued…)
Adam Waxman
posted 2/03/08 @ 10:38 PM EST
I find this article very distressing. I lived on third floor Milner my freshman year. The cleaning staff work very hard for very low pay (particularly compared to the $240,000 a year Kent Chabotar makes, according to the public tax information filed by Guilford every year), and they deserve better than this. (Continued…)
J.
posted 2/08/08 @ 10:28 PM EST
This is horrible, though not surprising. The Administration needs to respond, instead of leaving everything up to the students as per usual.
ps. (Continued…)
Arminta Fox
posted 2/16/08 @ 9:26 AM EST
Since graduating in 2005 I have been proud of my degree from Guilford College. However, several events over the years have made me question my pride (and my donations to the school). (Continued…)
Tracy Shenkman
posted 2/23/08 @ 4:27 PM EST
Bringing to light problems and learning to make changes to fix those problems is one of the most basic lessons students will learn at college. In a showdown of who is more inhumane to whom, the third floor Milner student or the cleaning staff, surely there are two (one from each camp) who has the integrity and intelligence to sit down and listen to what each has to say. (Continued…)
Laura
posted 2/28/08 @ 10:09 AM EST
I'd hate to see what happens when these kids live in Bryan or the apartments and have to clean up after their own crap.
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