The continuing debate concerning the Office of Residential Life's damage policy is reaching a crescendo this week, as residents of South Mass will likely be charged with an ORL restitution fee one week after human feces were found spread on the stalls and toilets of the first-floor bathroom.
In the event that no new information arises by the Aug. 11, 5 p.m. deadline, ORL will automatically bill a share of the $40 total assessment to all South Mass residents.
"Nobody has come forward and taken responsibility for what has been done," community director Brian Reed said.
Like many South Mass residents, Elizabeth Kim '07 is left confused and disgusted.
"There's poop everywhere, and we don't know why," Kim '07 said.
Fortunately, concerns of a repeated infraction were mollified yesterday morning when custodial reports described the first-floor bathroom as looking great after successfully weathering the first weekend since said incident.
But that news did little to placate second-floor residents like Kim, who recalled seeing feces in the second-floor men's bathroom just two days ago.
"I just want it to stop," second-floor resident Shreya Patel '07, said.
Still, Kim could not fault the College's damage policy, which she described as "fair," estimating that she would have to pay somewhere between $1 and $2 for last week's incident.
"It gets split between so many people that the money is inconsequential," Kim said. "It is just really gross. I would rather have it clean than save the extra money."
However, other students like Cole Glassner '07 are decidely more concerned with the prospect of impending damage assessments.
"I just wish I didn't have to pay for other people's mistakes," Glassner '07 said.
According to Reed, the damage policy often finds itself the focus of student criticism.
"[ORL] gets tons of feedback. While there is a large amount of people that understand the policy," Reed said, "the majority say the policy is unfair because they had no part in the damage."
According to Reed, officials are in conversation this summer, looking at the policy and what changes, if any, may be made.
"The catch-22 of all of this," Reed said, "is that we want to maintain the open door nature of our campus, while minimizing damage in the residential halls."
Reed's colleagues and fellow community directors have not made public any findings or recommendations regarding the damage policy to date.
Determining who is culpable for Dartmouth on-campus housing damage is often problematic because students enjoy universal access to residential halls during the academic year.
As for the South Mass incident, Reed is not optimistic that the guilty party will be brought to justice.
"Most of the time, we [ORL] don't hear anything back from the responsible party, but sometimes we will receive anonymous envelopes of money," Reed said.
"That's not the ideal scenario, but those funds have been turned into our accountants to cover the damage fees in the past."
If any information arises about the incident before Wednesday at 5 p.m., students can send notifications directly to Brian Reed via BlitzMail.
In the meantime, residents of South Mass can only hope that the guilty student takes responsibility for his or her actions.
"It would be great if the person could come forward and pay for it, but I don't know if that will happen," Kim said.
