An unknown vandal jammed a loose doorknob down the elbow of a toilet on the men’s second floor of the Piñon Residence Hall several weeks ago sometime in the morning.
Other items were crammed on top of the doorknob which induced flooding and water leaked from the communal bathroom door. Residents of the floor received five hours of mandatory volunteer work since no parties came forward to claim responsibility.
In the Maverick Guide it states that “responsibility for damage or losses in a public area will be assigned to all members of a living unit or subunit if the responsible party cannot or will not be identified.”
Senior kinesiology education major and resident advisor (RA) for Piñon Hall Blayne Martinez spoke with the Criterion about the incident.
“The toilet was clogged pretty good. They stuffed it with a bunch of other stuff. It’s created such a big mess,” Martinez said.
An estimated 24 residents of the floor will have to work off their time with custodial services since they were the department that responded to the clog.
“We all got an email telling us that we had mandatory community service,” sophomore criminal justice major Gabriel Cardile said. “I tried to find a loop-hole to get out of community service, but I got told it was incorrect. I already know a few students who’ve had to go and work as custodians for five hours because of this.”
Custodian Solomon Herrera was put in charge of coordinating the community service. He sent the residents of the floor the following email:
“Let us as the Custodial Crew start by saying that we understand that most of you had nothing to do with this and got caught up in some college shenanigans and we are sorry that you have to do this. But, we are going to make sure that everyone gets treated fair and completes their 5 hours. […] You are all going to be working on the next 3 or 4 weekends to complete your hours. ”
After the flood was identified as an intentional act by custodial services, the residents of Piñon Hall assembled to have a discussion with Martinez about the incident.
“I sat down with the head of custodians and our coordinator of the building, and we came up with this plan,” Martinez said. “It’s about accountability and showing awareness.”
Some residents, like freshman biology major Sam Funk, did not receive immediate notice about the community service requirement.
“By the time I got news of the information, people were already getting called—second floor wide—that they were going to do community service,” Funk said.
Freshman accounting major Brandon Sable said he was asleep when the toilet was clogged.
“All I knew next was the entire floor was blamed and now we all have community service. I haven’t been assigned anything yet,” Sable said. “I know a few people who are refusing to do it. I don’t blame them.”
After the flooding, CMU staff checked all the doors in Piñon. They were unable to locate a door with a missing handle. The identity of the vandal remains unknown, and residents agree to the terms and conditions of the Maverick Guide when they sign their housing contract.
“We just want whoever did it to come forward.” Cardile said. “They won’t be punished; we just want to know who did it so we don’t have to do community service.”
