“You couldn’t walk down the halls without shoes on,” says former Binford resident Laura Dominguez. “The trash cans were overflowing and there would be beer streaming down the hall,” says sophomore Erin Klintworth.

Binford Hall last year was an exclusively first-year student residence hall. This year it is not. Tales of vomit in hallways and showers, the smell of alcohol as soon as one entered the dorm, and disgusting sanitary conditions in the lounge aren’t hard to find.

”Last year was a mess. That’s why it’s not an all freshman dorm anymore,” says Jonathan Flax, a junior who lives on Binford’s second floor.

According to many people, Binford was the wildest residence hall on campus during the 2001-2002 year.

”Last year it was dirty and loud and there was very little focus,” says Jeni Robinson, Binford second floor R.A. She was not a Binford resident last year, but she could see the effects of the hall on its residents very clearly.

This year Binford seems to be doing better. It may be too soon to speculate, but many people think this year is shaping up to be a much cleaner, focused, and mature Binford Hall.

“There’s been nothing like last year so far,” says Jeni Robinson of Binford this year. “We’ve got a really great group of people. They seem to get along really well”.

Hannah Baldwin, a First-Year who stayed on Binford’s second floor as a prospective student, says that during her visit last year there were a lot of drugs and alcohol, but she has seen little of those things so far this year. Binford is comparatively clean, academically focused, and quiet. According to those who lived in Binford last year and this year, it is generally a better place to live.

A cleaner, quieter, more sanitary Binford this year? We’ll have to wait and see.