UIC restrooms affecting quality of life on campus

Using a restroom on campus is an inevitable part of any student's day, and the ones at UIC don't always offer a pleasant experience. A missing stall lock, crude graffiti, or a puddle surrounding the toilet are only some of the issues lurking in the university's bathrooms.

As the fall semester begins, the facility maintenance department and crew will face continuous challenges to keep university bathrooms up to par with summer standards.

During the summer semesters the conditions of campus restrooms are better than during the fall and spring. Both the women's and men's bathrooms are notably cleaner, whereas during the regular semesters bathrooms are usually in a state of disarray.

In Stevenson Hall, there is a stall in the men's room where someone wrote: "Paint up this canvas ‘cause I don't believe in a clean stall wall".
The graffiti on the stalls in the women's bathrooms seem to focus on sex and relationships. For example, in Stevenson Hall someone wrote "I love someone else's girlfriend," and someone responded underneath, "I love my boyfriend."

However, some of the graffiti may also say something religious, For example, a stall in the Behavioral Science Building (BSB) reads: "Prayer changes things. Find God then you'll find yourself. God bless!"

Other students have attempted to discourage graffiti with graffiti, by scrawling gems such as these: "We are in college, please show some maturity," and "Wow I thought people only wrote on bathroom walls in high school! GROW UP!"

This does not mean that all bathrooms are covered with random offensive scribbling. During the summer break, most bathrooms were treated with a new coat of paint and many repairs. Henry Hall sports freshly painted stalls, and Stevenson Hall had a busted door replaced.

However, a reoccurring problem seen in numerous restrooms is the fact that instead of making repairs, signs are made to inform people of the various problems. For example, in a women's bathroom on the second floor of BSB, a sign is taped on a stall door that says: "CAUTION Door Jams".

When asked about the overall quality of UIC bathrooms, students gave mixed answers. Scott, a second year student stated, "They're okay, but some have tons of graffiti, especially in BSB" whereas Sarah, a graduate student said, "I've never had any bad experiences."

Julie, a second year student, said her biggest issue with UIC bathrooms is "when people put garbage cans in the bathrooms, and they get left there." Kristina, a graduate student, complained that the bathrooms "are too little. UH and Grant Hall bathrooms only have two toilets, that's a joke!"

Not all UIC bathrooms are created equal. On the twenty-seventh floor of University Hall, the men's room possesses higher quality toilet paper and even a chair. Then there are the Lincoln Hall bathrooms, a crowd favorite. "Lincoln Hall bathrooms are really nice," said Julie. Katrina agreed: "Lincoln Hall is how it should be, almost pleasant."

Executive Director of Facilities Management, Mark Donovan, offered no response to questions regarding bathroom quality, student concerns, repair prices, or whether or not the bathrooms will remain in good quality throughout the upcoming semesters.

The university offers an online service where students can report issues to the university's facility management called FMWeb. Students can report issues and track their progress via the internet. However, your student account must be set up for this feature in order to access it. The website also provides a phone number for emergencies.

With the large amount of students returning to campus, bathrooms will probably return to their former states. Unless we continue to voice our dissatisfaction with our bathrooms to the university, it is unlikely that the situation will change.