Laura Lucas

With more than 11,000 students trekking through the 272-acre campus, and several hundred cars filling the 55 total parking lots, there is bound to be a little mess. But is it too much?

“It’s fairly easy for people to throw stuff in the garbage so anything on the ground is a problem,” said Levi Olson, an electrical engineering technologies junior.

Walking through, the student lots may look like a college house. There are beer boxes, McDonald’s bags, cigarette packs and a few unknown things speckled throughout the lots. The Physical Plant is in charge of cleaning all the lots. However, staff can only clean at certain times when the cars are gone because of the equipment they use. They do clean the lots after a big event like Hobo Day. Otherwise, cleaning is limited to before school begins and after school ends.

During the period between those times, different student organizations have volunteered to clean the lots. The lots are split between the organizations so that each has an average of two lots.

According to Dean Kattelmann, head of the Physical Plant, the student organizations should have no problems maintaining their designated lots.

“Ideally, they should be out there cleaning every two weeks,” he said.

Yet according to Justin Goetz, a political science senior and member of the Delta Chi Fraternity, “We clean the lots east of Binnewies and Young Hall twice a semester.”

The 10 residence halls house approximately 3,116 students. Each have a hired janitorial staff that work Monday through Friday, but the halls can’t always stay spotless.

Hansen Hall has a reputation for being the “messiest” or “dirtiest” hall.

“Hansen is a clean dorm. We have a full staff of at least one custodial person per floor who sweeps and mops the floors every day. They work from 8 to 5 and are proud of what they do,” said Kristen Carlisle, Hansen residence hall director.

So why would people say it’s so dirty?

“There’s a stigmatism. People have heard stories from past years and think it happened last week,” Carlisle said. “If the students respect the dorms, it will show”

Of course, the Physical Plant or the volunteers can’t be blamed for all garbage. Students are reminded to be responsible for their own trash, and to respect where people work, learn and live.