At a school where tuition and living costs exceed $50,000, mention of further charges could cause anyone to become queasy.
But be careful not to throw up – it could just cost you more money.
The total cost of unattributed damage to Fairfield University residential buildings was valued at more than $51,000 as of February 2012 for the current school year, according to the Office of Residence Life.
“The single most common charge is vomit cleanup,” said Associate Director of Residence Life Charlie Sousa.
But certain buildings have seen more puke than others. Underclassman residence Jogues Hall had the highest damage totaling $14,529 for the fall semester alone. This is a sharp increase from the Fall 2010 semester, during which Jogues still accumulated almost $5,000.
According to Sousa, it hasn’t always been this way: “The last two years we just had two rough floors that really skewed the numbers. If you take that one floor out of Jogues, it eliminates the outrageous damage stuff. “
Referring to this year’s sophomore third floor, Fall semester alone had a total of $10,375, making up for more than 70 percent of the building total and almost 20 percent of the University total. Charges include multiple vomit cleanups, broken exit signs and smashed mirrors, according to a damage report sent to students.
And although Public Safety records suggest that most of these damages occur on weekends, even the average Tuesday night can bring destruction. On the morning of Wednesday April 4, a trip to the third floor bathroom revealed multiple overturned garbage cans and several unflushed toilets splattered with what appeared to be vomit.
Damages like these that remain unsolved are split between the residents of the building or floor where they occur. Due to last semester’s increased vandalism, third floor residents will have to pay approximately two hundred dollars each in floor charges alone.
So what motivates students to continue making a mess despite these rising numbers?
“Being…a sophomore dorm that is not a residential college gives the living experience an unsubstantial element,” said Jogues resident Joe Strazza ‘14. “Petty destruction is the product.”
Resident Kevin Slattery ‘14 said, “When life gives you lemons, as in Jogues, you make lemonade, as in breaking stuff.”
Jogues Area Coordinator Amarildo Barbosa explained how despite the difficulty in pinpointing the motivation for these damages, certain recurring factors help Residence Life staff draw conclusions. These include late hours of occurrence and alcohol use.
Frank Ficko, Associate Director of Public Safety, said, “Usually when there’s a problem on campus of any kind, alcohol often seems to be in the mix somewhere.”
However, Sousa was unsure of motive: “You don’t know until you do catch the perpetrator.”
In terms of catching those responsible, Residence Life primarily depends on students to step forward. However, not many students have taken the initiative.
“I have the expectation a lot of students are going to be hesitant,” said Barbosa. “If you think about social circles, people don’t want to have the stigma of ‘This is the person that got this person in trouble.’”
Due to this perceived hesitation, an anonymous reporting system was made available to students in October 2011 through Public Safety’s website. Ficko described it as “a vehicle for that student who wishes to remain anonymous.”
Sousa explained why students shouldn’t hesitate to file a report: “If you were in a jam, would that person [the vandal] give you money out of their pocket because you’ve made a mistake? … I think a majority of the people who are causing the damage would be the type that would be like, ‘Eh, too bad,’ and walk away from you.”
Due to this high number of unreported damages in Jogues, further measures are being considered by the University to deter vandalism.
One of these deterrence methods being used is the employment of outside help. A recent email from Barbosa informed residents that a security guard would patrol Jogues Thursday through Friday from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. as a way to “hopefully curtail most of the damage and vandalism we have experienced in our residence hall community.”
When asked why this might be necessary, Barbosa said his RAs are “not police officers” and are not expected to physically “engage individuals at three in the morning.”
“Whenever we bring in outside people to assist us, they have more leverage as far as doing those kinds of things,” he continued. “They’re a support, but they’re also there for preventive reasons and to create that presence.”
However, not everyone agrees with the effectiveness of extra measures. Strazza said, “With so much hype and excitement around third floor Jogues damages, it only made further damages not only expected, but somewhat encouraged. Unfortunately, Jogues developed a notorious reputation and it is now simply retaining it.”
Jogues certainly has a reputation, and numbers only support it. In comparison, neighboring freshman and sophomore buildings had significantly lower damage charges. For example, Loyola Hall clocked in at less than $1000 and McCormick at less than $700.
Reasons for lower totals in neighboring buildings include video surveillance systems in recently constructed dorms, which include McInnes and McCormick halls. Ficko explained how, although the cameras are “not 100 hundred effective all the time,” they have still helped “to a degree.”
When asked if older buildings such as Jogues would have cameras installed, Barbosa replied, “There are places of interest, public areas, where we saw a lot of damage.” He continued, “We want to keep eyes there, but to this point, we haven’t suited the whole building with cameras.”
For now, Jogues residents, as well as those of other halls, will have to pay these fees in addition to their tuition. In terms of the future, Slattery concluded: “I would ask these people to stop breaking everything because everyone is affected by their actions. If they don’t want to stop, they should at least own up and take responsibility. That way, others don’t have to suffer.”
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