Urinators in elevators need to learn respect
Landhuis, Kelsey
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: Opinions
Here is a piece of advice I never dreamed of having to give to college students: Don't pee in the elevator.
It's common sense, really. The occasional 5-year-old boy might need a reminder, but even most of them - with the possible exception of Adam Sandler's charge in "Big Daddy" - know that public urination generally is frowned upon. So why can't supposedly intelligent adults figure this out?
I don't know what message peeing prowlers like the one in Centennial Hall last weekend are trying to send, but I'm pretty sure it's not working. Unless their goal is to make themselves look like jerks, in which case, congratulations, jerks: Mission accomplished. Urine in the elevators is just one symptom of a much bigger problem - a lack of respect for the University buildings students use and share every day.
Examples of neglect, mistreatment and flat-out vandalism are scattered throughout campus. Sticking gum on the undersides of desks and scrawling graffiti in bathroom stalls and study cubicles are examples of behavior I would expect to see at a middle school, not a university.
These actions reveal a disregard for University facilities and by extension, a lack of respect for the University itself and everyone associated with it, from the custodian who has to scrape that gum off the desk to the students who chose to enroll here.
If you need a way to occupy your time during a bathroom break or a study break, there are better options than inciting inter-fraternity animosity with inflammatory graffiti - like reading the Index, for example.
But hey, at least the people who doodle in the bathrooms actually are using them. The elevator urinators, for some reason, have chosen a different location to relieve themselves, creating much larger problems than used chewing gum and graffiti. Peeing in elevators is unsanitary. It is revolting. Most of all, it is unnecessary. No matter what statement you are trying to make, there probably is a better way to do it than taking a leak in a Centennial Hall lift.
It's common sense, really. The occasional 5-year-old boy might need a reminder, but even most of them - with the possible exception of Adam Sandler's charge in "Big Daddy" - know that public urination generally is frowned upon. So why can't supposedly intelligent adults figure this out?
I don't know what message peeing prowlers like the one in Centennial Hall last weekend are trying to send, but I'm pretty sure it's not working. Unless their goal is to make themselves look like jerks, in which case, congratulations, jerks: Mission accomplished. Urine in the elevators is just one symptom of a much bigger problem - a lack of respect for the University buildings students use and share every day.
Examples of neglect, mistreatment and flat-out vandalism are scattered throughout campus. Sticking gum on the undersides of desks and scrawling graffiti in bathroom stalls and study cubicles are examples of behavior I would expect to see at a middle school, not a university.
These actions reveal a disregard for University facilities and by extension, a lack of respect for the University itself and everyone associated with it, from the custodian who has to scrape that gum off the desk to the students who chose to enroll here.
If you need a way to occupy your time during a bathroom break or a study break, there are better options than inciting inter-fraternity animosity with inflammatory graffiti - like reading the Index, for example.
But hey, at least the people who doodle in the bathrooms actually are using them. The elevator urinators, for some reason, have chosen a different location to relieve themselves, creating much larger problems than used chewing gum and graffiti. Peeing in elevators is unsanitary. It is revolting. Most of all, it is unnecessary. No matter what statement you are trying to make, there probably is a better way to do it than taking a leak in a Centennial Hall lift.
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alumni
posted 2/28/08 @ 8:13 AM CST
This is a nasty problem that clearly needs to be solved. In solving the problem, it is important to use your critical thinking skills - and to think out of the box (even though the problem is in a box. (Continued…)
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