Cleanliness standards strain roommate relations

Cleanliness standards strain roommate relations

Neatness a low priority for some in college dormlife

By Kimberly Mackesy

Spores. Filth. Roaches. While these words may conjure up images
of a tenement slum, some Bruins may be surprised to discover that
they aptly describe something closer to home ­ student
housing.

But to many students, this wouldn’t come as much of a
surprise.

Losing the cordless phone frequently is only one of the side
effects of having a messy room, said Alan Bryce, a sophomore
biochemistry student who admits that his dorm room was vacuumed
once winter quarter. His window was kept open 24 hours a day to air
the room, a measure that met with little success.

"One night the stench was so bad it woke me up and I had to
leave the room," he said. "I don’t mind that it’s messy, but I
don’t think (my roommate) would be comfortable if it was
clean."

His solution to dealing with a messy roommate?

"I just kick it over to one side of the room," he said, although
he admits that he isn’t the epitome of cleanliness either.

Many students said that compromise is a necessary evil in order
to keep roommates happy.

"My roommate’s neat, and I’m extremely messy. but I try to clean
at least once every three days to make her feel better," said
Heather Abelson, a first-year biology student.

"I’m the messy one," conceded Erin Dabbs, a first-year
psychology student. "But I try to keep my mess in my own
space."

Others say they’re on the same wavelength as their roommate(s)
when it comes to cleanliness. This can run the gamut from spotless
to slovenly.

"(My roommate) Vinh rearranges her side of the room at least
once a week," said Julie Edmunds, an undeclared sophomore. "But
we’re pretty equal about cleaning."

"We’re both messy," said Jack Cheng, an undeclared freshman.
"It’s pretty bad right now."

But even disorderly roommates admit the need for cooperation
when it comes to cleanliness.

"Usually, when one cleans it, we both clean it," he said.
"That’s if we clean it."

Resident Assistant Tahira Hoke has seen a host of problems
brought on by roommates’ differing standards of cleanliness.

"I think there are about five rooms on my floor who have extreme
differences as far as cleanliness goes," she said. She added that
the results can be gruesome.

"I’ve seen cases where people bring things in from the outside.
Roaches can develop," she said.

Hoke admits to firsthand knowledge of what can happen when a
room gets out of control.

"My roommate freshman year wanted to see what she could grow.
She had a container of food sitting on top of the TV for at least a
month. You could see it changing colors." She added that when
spores started to form, her roommate decided it was time to move
on.

At the beginning of the year, resident assistants do roommate
intervention interviews with the residents of each room to fend off
future conflicts. In the interviews, the RAs talk to both roommates
in order to clarify how they will deal with things such as trash,
vacuuming, and other potential problem situations, Hoke said.

"People don’t often come out and tell their roommates that
something bothers them. This is where problems can develop." Hoke
said. She emphasized that communication between roommates is
critical.

Even so, sometimes the distances between roommates’ cleanliness
standards makes it almost impossible to find a happy medium. Often,
it amounts to luck of the draw, students said.

"They’re going into a living situation with (one or more)
complete strangers. They have no way of knowing beforehand how the
other people were raised," said Ramraghi Fuller, a first-year
Afro-American studies/sociology major. "(I’d tell) incoming
freshman to prepare themselves."