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Tracy Huseas slips a key into the doorknob, gives
it a twist, and pushes the door open with a degree of hesitancy.
A few days ago, this same room, located upstairs in one of the residence
halls on campus, looked as if a hurricane had whistled through,
dumping dungarees, trash, shirts, and other clutter in its wake.
Remarkably though, the emptied room now reveals nothing more than
a bunk bed set, a couple of desks, a barren closet and a mustard-colored
art deco chair abandoned by the former occupants. “Wow,”
she says, amazed, “When I first saw this room, you could hardly
get the door open.”
It is one stop during an afternoon tour of various
residence halls on campus, less than two weeks after students have
moved out. Following the usual procedure, Tim Lopez, director of
facilities and campus services, has already gone through each room
and student apartment on campus, videotaping any damages. In fact,
the videotaping actually starts on the day of Commencement, which
means that --- in at least a number of cases --- visiting parents
and family members get a chance to witness their children’s
living habits.
The rooms themselves are not always so messy, but
the expanse of abandoned items, from T-shirts and jeans to non-perishables,
toiletries, furniture, and kitchen electronics including toaster
ovens and microwaves, create a dilemma for the facilities and campus
services staff. Huseas says she's mystified by the apparent wastefulness
practiced by the occasional student. She recounts finding a small
stack of nice, pressed dress shirts that had been left on a floor.
“You sometimes wonder why something like that gets left behind,”
she says, shaking her head.
For some students remaining on campus over summer,
move-outs can provide a host of treasures. One summer intern acknowledged
finding, and storing, some instant soups left by a student. Another
was excited to have found a red, silk take-out box that had herbal
teas tucked inside. “I thought, ‘Why would someone leave
that? It was so pretty,’” she said.
The campus-wide clean-up must be stealthily executed
, and these are the afternoons when golf carts and little flatbeds
are whizzing about the sidewalks and lawns between dorm rooms, hauling
bags of trash and bulkier objects. Within two weeks after students
move out, alumni move in for Reunion Weekend, which keeps workers
bustling.
Exactly what becomes of the belongings and furniture
that students can’t fit into planes, trains, and automobiles
headed back home? The College is still trying to come up with the
most efficient plan, says housekeeping manager Kathy Lowe. Traditionally,
most of the furniture is driven to roll-off dumpsters on campus.
“We just don’t have the time to sort through it,”
she said. “Next year, we’d like to work with the Dean
of Students office to develop a better program, and get more of
the local charities and thrift stores involved.”
Abandoned refrigerators are routinely hauled off by the Hazardous
Waste department at year’s end. On some occasions, when workers
encounter a solid piece of furniture or kitchen appliance, it’s
stored in a designated nook on campus and offered to the Dean of
Students office, should any incoming or returning students want
to claim it. Found textbooks are hauled to Honnold Library for inspection,
in the event that any were overdue check-outs from the facility,
Lowe says. Others are taken to Huntley Book Store.
Lowe says that overall, students are getting more responsible for
what they do and don’t leave behind, possibly to avoid fees
for clean-up and damages. “But we don’t have nearly the
trash left in rooms as we have had in previous years,” she
said. “And that’s a good sign.”
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Shampoo, razors, shaving cream, soap and other toiletries are common
finds in residence hall bathrooms when students move out. In some
cases, clutter is so thick it conceals countertops.
Room decor from one of the Towers gathers along a
lobby wall.
Denim by the pound: Jeans left in closets and on
dorm floors are sometimes donated to local charities.
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