According to Facilities Management, damage to on-campus housing has decreased by five percent over the past semester in comparison to Fall 2010, though the figure is likely to shift as the year continues. While the complete statistics will not be compiled until the end of the semester, thus far Baxter House has accrued the most abuse, at slightly under $2,000 in damages, and Ladd House is second, with $1,200.
Associate Director of Facilities Operations Jeff Tuttle notes that the cost of repair does not necessarily reflect the extent of the trend.
"We can't always trend dorm damage by the number of incidents," said Tuttle. "We usually rank [damage] based upon the value of things that are involved in those incidents. Furniture damages cost more, but a bunch of [window] screen is not very much."
According to Tuttle, no particular dorm has a steady history of accumulating damages. Currently, the recorded repairs to on-campus dorms are consistent with those past years.
Facilities Management determines the total level of dorm damage at the end of the second semester. On-campus housing needed $66,000 worth of repairs. Coles Tower, as the largest residential building, needed the most repairs, costing $13,500, with MacMillan House tracking second with $6,600 in payments, followed closely by Baxter House with $6,000, Brunswick Apartments with $5,300, and Ladd House with $4,900.
Assistant Director of Resident Life Christopher Rossi '10 discussed how College Houses differ from other dorms with regard to damage.
"There's more communal damage in social houses," said Rossi. "I can't say college dorms get more damage than first year bricks, but College Houses have more damage in common spaces than first year bricks."
Indeed, many College Houses have accumulated considerable damage already, primarily due to campus-wide parties and other events. "We had a party and people were dancing on a table and in the morning we found holes in the roof from what looks like fists," said Helmreich House President Matthew Ramos '12. "I do enjoy the enthusiasm of the fist-pump, but I think people took the phrase 'raise the roof' a little too literally."
Reed House President Jordan Goldberg '14 said that its first campus-wide brought considerable damage to the house's entertainment system. "The one big problem we had was with our speakers," said Goldberg. "The basement got too crowded and hot, and sweat/water started condensing on the pipes above our speaker system. Unfortunately, we didn't realize until it was too late, and our sound system was wrecked."
On the other hand, some Houses remain relatively damage-free.
"The most we've really had is tape damage on the eaves in the living room, and crayon drawn on the wall," said MacMillan House President Natalie Clark '14. "It's not over $100, and there haven't been any major damages during parties."
To prevent dorm damage, Security regularly patrols residential buildings, checking for vandalism and broken furniture. Residential Life staff and Housekeeping collaborate to detect any potential damage.
"Damage comes to our attention from a variety of means," said Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols. "We do the best we can to determine who is responsible for the damage so the whole dorm doesn't have to pay."