On the morning of Oct. 26, the residents of the Griesedieck
Complex received a notice stating that each resident of the complex
would be charged $5 for the thorough cleaning of two washing
machines. On Oct. 19, a student had defecated in one of the
machines and disposed of the used toilet tissue in the other.

More than 300 students have appealed the fine because the
damages occurred during fall break and most students were not in
the building.

One member of the Griesedieck complex professional staff and the
two Resident Assistants on call that day used a bodily waste
disposal kit to sanitize and dispose of the waste. Housekeeping
later sanitized the washing machines again.

The perpetrator has not confessed, and no one has reported him
or her to the Department of Housing and Residence Life, thus all
students living in the complex were charged a portion of the
cleaning cost.

“The University does not want to charge people who aren’t
responsible,” said Argyle Wade, Director of Housing.

According to the student handbook, “All floor/apartment
residents can collectively be held responsible for damages to
public areas that are not attributed to individuals.”

The Griesedieck Hall council president filed a blanket appeal
for the entire building, pending proof by each student that he or
she was not in the building on Oct. 19.

“The (Judicial) Board unanimously agreed that if students could
prove they were gone over fall break they would not be charged,”
said Terisa Remelius, Ph.D., University Judicial Affairs
officer.

The students could prove they were not in the complex on that
day through airline tickets, bus tickets or a phone call from a
parent.

“I received more than 150 phone calls from parents on Monday,
Nov. 3 to say that students were gone from campus during fall
break,” said Remelius.

“I appealed because I wasn’t here that weekend, so it seemed
silly to have to pay even the small amount for an incident I
obviously did not take part in,” said Mary Becker, a resident in
Walsh Hall, whose father called to verify that she spent her fall
break at home in Dubuque, Iowa. “The incident was disgusting and
childish,” Becker added.

Five dollars is the minimum fine charged to a student’s bill.
Since the charge is applied to so many students, there will be
extra money after the damage charges have been paid. “We are going
to put it into a program to stop vandalism,” Wade said. The program
was started at the beginning of this semester called PRIDE. The
purpose of PRIDE is to prevent vandalism in the building by
providing incentives to the residence halls. “If there are other
ways to stop the behavior, I would be open to it,” Wade said.

Another place where the money will go is to provide upper-class
students with scholarship money that goes toward housing. “Students
will be getting a majority of their money back,” Wade said.