Dylan ([info]phrappe) wrote in [info]oberlin,
@ 2005-12-12 13:20:00
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Dascomb
[edit: as some people posted in the comments, they chose to keep things open because people came forward with the names of those who caused the damage]

I just received the following email -

Due to excessive messes in the kitchens and damage in public lounges, all kitchens and lounges in Dascomb Hall will be locked until further notice. Further damages or messes in other areas of Dascomb Hall, including restrooms, will result in these areas being locked for the remainder of the academic year. If you have any information regarding any of these issues, please email me with the names of individuals who may have been involved in the destruction.

Michelle Reneé Sciarini - michelle.sciarini@oberlin.edu
First Year Experience Director
Area Resident Director for Dascomb, Barrows, and Zechiel Halls
Residential Education and Dining Services

x56202 Dascomb Phone
x55445 Stevenson Phone


If you disagree with the action being taken, especially if you are one of the people in Dascomb who treats the dorm with respect, consider dropping her an email in response. Here's a portion of the one I wrote:


I find it unfortunate that you're choosing to take this action without first consulting with the majority of people who do treat the dorm with respect - I think you would find them more than happy to address the problem, because it is unpleasant for us as well. Also, as a result of the action that is being taken, the majority of people are now going to congregate in the halls, keeping those who are trying to sleep awake. My roommate also uses the lounge to do homework when he I am sleeping, and there now he has no place do this. Also, in the mornings I use one of the smaller lounges as a meditation area, and now I have no place to use. And I think you'll also find more large gatherings in individual rooms, creating a fire hazard.

It's completely ridiculous to suggest that it's even within the right of anyone to close the bathrooms. I'm not paying tens of thousands of dollars a year to have to use a bathroom in another building.

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[info]blueyedbaby
2005-12-12 06:37 pm UTC (link)
This happened in Barrows too last year. It sucks. Tell your dormmates to not make such a fucking mess. It pisses everyone off.

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[info]shannonmc
2005-12-12 08:34 pm UTC (link)
it did?
they locked lounges?

it was gross most of the time, but i don't remember that...

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[info]msgootch
2005-12-12 08:46 pm UTC (link)
It happened several times with kitchens but never for very long (and usually just one of them).

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[info]princedisciple
2005-12-12 06:55 pm UTC (link)
"It's completely ridiculous to suggest that it's even within the right of anyone to close the bathrooms."

While I understand your indignance, it's certainly within the rights of a private institution to close almost anything it feels like, and you're paying tens of thousands of dollars to attend a private institution.

Certainly continue to voice your feelings about things, just be a touch more careful about wording.

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(Anonymous)
2005-12-12 08:21 pm UTC (link)
they might also have a legal obligation to close the kitchen if it's nasty enough to be a health code violation... just saying...

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[info]freesiayourmind
2005-12-12 08:59 pm UTC (link)
Possibly. They can't close the bathrooms, legally, I think they mean if you continue to make a mess while the kitchen/lounges are closed, then they will stay closed. I think it is their right to close stuff. It's your right to complain, but I don't think that's neccessarily going to affect them as much as making your hallmates clean up. It could be as simple as putting up a few signs, if that hasn't been done already.

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[info]violabelle
2005-12-12 07:07 pm UTC (link)
They've closed the kitchen in every dorm I've ever lived in. Get used to it.

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[info]inkyoctopus
2005-12-12 09:26 pm UTC (link)
But I think that to have to clean up after a bunch of privileged college kids is indignation enough without have to clean up after NASTY ASS privileged college kids.


Amen.

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(Anonymous)
2005-12-13 01:47 am UTC (link)
Uh, hello, it's their JOB.

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(Anonymous)
2005-12-13 02:04 am UTC (link)
Their job is to clean the halls from mess due to normal daily use, not to clean what students leave overly messy, including piles and piles of dirty dishes.

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(Anonymous)
2005-12-13 07:16 am UTC (link)
Come off it. This tired line about "privilege" is a very effective way of muddying a clear issue, in this case, ResEd's decision to be assholes to a whole dorm because a few people were jerks.

We are not The Man. We do not get off on oppressing the custodial staff. If ResEd wants to bully students, let's not pretend that they're standing up for anything except saving money.

Honestly, let's all drop this self-deprecating guilt routine about how privileged and therefore bad we all are. Let's just do our personal best not to be assholes, but not lay all the inequities of capitalism at our feet.

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[info]shereminisces
2005-12-13 07:41 am UTC (link)
I really wish I knew who you were so I could ask you to grab a bite to eat or something at some point. I almost wrote this but chickened out. Thank you.

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[info]electracide
2005-12-12 07:49 pm UTC (link)
My freshman year in Barrows kitchens got closed all the time for being absolutely gross...lounges would get closed for people smoking in them/destroying them -- it happens. Live with it. Freshman are generally not great at keeping their space clean, and there is no reason why the custodial staff should have to leave notes all but begging for dishes to be cleaned so they don't get thrown out.

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[info]ursiflora
2005-12-12 07:59 pm UTC (link)
yeah man, we had every kitchen and lounge locked at some point my freshman year in dascomb. the 3rd floor kitchen was locked for all of 2nd semester after SOMEONE boiled water in tupperware on the stovetop. goooood times.

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[info]lambs_lettuce
2005-12-12 10:08 pm UTC (link)
good times!

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[info]susciter27
2005-12-13 04:53 am UTC (link)
roommate incest love!!!

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[info]musicmanjack
2005-12-14 01:07 am UTC (link)
Dear Rachel,

I don't understand your LJ user icon.

Hearts, Jack.

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[info]musicmanjack
2005-12-14 12:56 am UTC (link)
fuck you!

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[info]ursiflora
2005-12-15 03:45 am UTC (link)
BWAHAHAHA i was waiting for that

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[info]iamwearingpants
2005-12-12 07:57 pm UTC (link)
Do homework in the library.
Meditate in the meditation room in Wilder.
And try to get your hallmates to not trash the community you live in.

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(Anonymous)
2005-12-12 11:42 pm UTC (link)
you are sounding rather accusatory of the person who started this post, which seems unneccessary since the person did a good thing by voicing his opinion.

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[info]iamwearingpants
2005-12-13 01:51 am UTC (link)
Sorry about the accusatory tone. I was just providing alternative resources on campus.

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[info]shereminisces
2005-12-12 08:02 pm UTC (link)
I don't live in a dorm anymore, thank the lord, but I just wanted to say that I think you're right, and that I hope they get opened again soon.

If Oberlin is going to make people live in the dorms - which, more and more, they are doing, they need to deal with the fact that they are forcing non-messy kids to live with messy kids. CDS sucks, and co-ops aren't the best option for everyone. If someone wants to be able to make themselves food in their building, they should be able to. Yeah, there's no reason that custodial staff should have to deal with stupid crap, but there's also no reason YOU should have to.

Sorry people are being rude to you. When someone tells me to "live with it" I usually imagine how well they would live with my foot up their ass. Dem bitches is some bitches.

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[info]bradsabastard
2005-12-12 08:16 pm UTC (link)
yeah, but how exactly do they "deal with the fact?"

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[info]deconstructya
2005-12-13 01:06 am UTC (link)
they should have a neatness program hall, for people who are actively invested in neatness.

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[info]zbladerunner
2005-12-14 08:10 am UTC (link)
I like CDS...i don't understand why people complain so much about it...fresh fruit everyday, ice cream, veggie line, salads and grilled stuff, i mean i don't see how it's so terrible.

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(Anonymous)
2005-12-14 05:55 pm UTC (link)
No kidding. It's great here. I ate in my brother's cafeteria at another school, and it was horrible...all junk food. At least you can eat healthy here. I mean, damn, look at the menus...they get super-fancy with food here. I'm partial to the chicken fingers 4th meal in dascomb on tues.

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[info]odetteodile72
2005-12-14 06:06 pm UTC (link)
Thank you. Everyone always complains about cafeteria food, but compared to most school it's really good. Actually, it's usually good on it's own, not even just compared to other schools.

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[info]incendiaryfs
2005-12-17 11:00 pm UTC (link)
This made me happy because even tho I know sometimes Dascomb food is really nasty and fried and soggy after sitting out for awhile, all this semester I was washing pots and one of the ladies would feed me some of her best food like fresh cornbread (I'd never had it before!) and garlic rolls and etc. and it was always so good and she was always so pleased/proud.

I just wanted to say that the people who cook in the kitchen are actually really good cooks and love cooking and talk about the meals they're making for Thanksgiving or whatnot and they always sound delicious.

Up the Dascomb ladies!

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[info]trumpeterbob
2005-12-12 08:03 pm UTC (link)
I don't think it's fair for jaded upperclassmen to judge the situation here. If students in Dascomb feel they're being punished for the actions of a disrespectful few, it's their prerogative to make their voices heard. I've been around Dascomb plenty this semester and found it to be not that bad. (Granted, I lived in Harkness at the time.) Besides, do traditionally socially awkward Obies need another reason to sit in their rooms alone, especially during the stressful end of the semester?

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[info]shannonmc
2005-12-12 08:36 pm UTC (link)
hear hear.

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[info]msgootch
2005-12-12 08:44 pm UTC (link)
The disrespectful few had their names reported to the RD and the lounges/kitchens will now remain open.

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[info]trumpeterbob
2005-12-12 08:49 pm UTC (link)
Score one for clean kids.

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[info]cherrytop
2005-12-12 09:18 pm UTC (link)
*coop knock*

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[info]kezinge
2005-12-12 08:34 pm UTC (link)
If I recall correctly, ResEd policy states that they cannot close all bathrooms, but they can limit it to one male, one female, and one gender neutral in a building, regardless of the building's size. This thread's interesting; I agree with pretty much everything everyone's writing. There are some situations under which kitchens and lounges should be closed, and I don't know whether Dascomb met them. I hope things get better on both the cleanliness and the openness ends, though.

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[info]iamwearingpants
2005-12-12 08:34 pm UTC (link)
Owing to emails, the kitchens and lounges have been reopened. Dascomb wins!

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[info]msgootch
2005-12-12 08:43 pm UTC (link)
The kitchens and lounges were reopened not because people complained but because they turned in the few people who were causing the destruction.

And from what I can tell from the email, they were actually never closed, they will now just "remain open" (although I didn't go to check so I can't confirm that).

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[info]lesliedoune
2005-12-12 09:20 pm UTC (link)
I'm glad to hear it's now open for the rest of the semester. However, reading period shall wreck havoc on them. My advice, if you have dishes that you personally own, keep them in your room and not in the kitchen. And throw out dirty dishes. Maybe people will learn enough to at least learn to wash their dishes by next year...

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[info]inparticolare
2005-12-12 10:02 pm UTC (link)
Happened my first year. They opened it back up eventually. In the meantime I just used the third floor's. Life resumed to normal.

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[info]magicmethyl
2005-12-13 07:08 am UTC (link)
I can see closing kitchens and lounges in some circumstances (though I suspect my judgement of what circumstances warrant it are more limited than ResLife's), but it really seems terribly piggish to close bathrooms, especially given the variable size of buildings. I mean, if they closed all but three bathrooms in, say, South, how would people realistically manage?

I completely agree with the statement "It's completely ridiculous to suggest that it's even within the right of anyone to close the bathrooms. I'm not paying tens of thousands of dollars a year to have to use a bathroom in another building." They may have a legal right to do this, but morally it's terribly mean.

As for the suggestion that people should respond to this by trying to get their hallmates to behave better, I would say that it's not our job to police our neighbors, and inflicting collective punishment on a dorm for the actions of a boorish few is just wrong.

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Let's help keep our community enjoyable for everyone...
(Anonymous)
2005-12-13 06:29 pm UTC (link)
This email was sent yesterday before the first post of this journal even occurred. It looks like we just need to join together to build a strong community where we can work together to help keep our area clean. If we lived in a house or an off-campus apartment, we would have to clean up after ourselves, right? We'd have to wash our dishes and clean up our messes. We're going to have to do this for the rest of our lives. Let's just start now and make the area clean and enjoyable for everyone. Maybe if we all joined together to keep the place in good shape, we wouldn't have to pay so much since I'm sure that some of that money somewhere along the way goes to pay custodians and people to repair things. Dascomb didn't "win" or "lose." We were given another chance to prove that we are adults and that we can handle the privledge of having kitchens and lounges to use. I'm willing to help keep our community clean!

Oh, and here's the email...
Thank you to all of you who provided me with information regarding individuals who were engaged in the destructive behavior in Dascomb Hall. Because I have received the same stories from several individuals, I am confident that I can address these issues with the individuals rather than with the building as a whole. The lounges and kitchens will remain open; however, if there are any further damages and messes, these areas will be locked down. I would like to take this opportunity to stress to each of you the importance of reporting problems when they arise. Please know that when you report issues to me via email, your name will be kept confidential. With that said, please keep my email address on file and report any issues that would help me to make your environment safer and more enjoyable to live in.

Additionally, I am asking that the individuals who are responsible for the damages and messes come forward and admit to the destruction. Since I already know who these individuals are, it would be of substantial benefit for them to contact me via email before I have to contact them.

Finally, as finals are quickly approaching, beginning today, RA's have been told that they are to document any individuals who are not abiding by the quiet hours policy. Please be respectful of your community.

Again, thank you to everyone who helped me to be able to reopen these areas by providing me with solid information. I appreciate your time.

Michelle

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Re: Let's help keep our community enjoyable for everyone...
(Anonymous)
2005-12-13 06:44 pm UTC (link)
I agree with you 100% and more. I sent Michelle (the RD) an email about my concerns, and I was more than happy with her response. She is simply concerned about us and wants us all to have a comfortable environment to live in. Some people just need to grow up and Res Life is doing their best to help make that happen. If you have an issue with something, email her. This isn't the first time I've talked to her about my concerns and the problems have been taken care of. In a short time, I've learned that there are all kinds of people here who are willing to help. You have have to be respectful and ask for help when you need it. Kindness and respect get you a long way.

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Re: Let's help keep our community enjoyable for everyone...
(Anonymous)
2005-12-14 02:48 pm UTC (link)
** Coop knock **

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[info]procris
2005-12-14 12:29 am UTC (link)
I lived in Dascomb my freshman year. The cleaning-lady caught me cleaning the kitchen on the second floor a couple of times, because I wanted to bake and there was NO way I could bake in a room that filthy. This came in handy later, when move-out came and she found out that I, like everybody else, needed boxes. I had more than enough boxes that year, delivered right to my door. Be NICE to your cleaning help!
Side note from that experience: After what a couple of people did with Easy-Mac to that kitchen....I do not eat Easy Mac.

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