A total of $7,899 in damages to student residences occured in fall 2011. According to the report compiled by Lisa Rendall, associate director of housing operations, Baxter House accrued $3,193 or 40.4 percent of the damage costs.
President of Baxter House Ben Kekeisen '14 pointed to "standard holes in the walls of the basement" and other damages during both campus-wide and smaller parties.
"That's what happens when you have the place at capacity and it becomes difficult to see who did what," he said. He went on to add that Baxter is "in the center of campus, so it's a midpoint for people coming from place to place throughout the night. That's why we get some random, impromptu parties that get out of control."
Ladd House ranked second highest in the report with $1,209 in damages, followed by Helmreich House with $982. Coincidentally perhaps, Baxter, Ladd and Helmreich were the College Houses with the highest number of applications for next year.
Fourteen of 29 residences in the report accrued no recorded damages during fall semester.
According to Kekeisen, Baxter's numbers alone do not tell the whole story.
"A lot of our damage was all accounted for and no Baxter members had to pay for it. That's what the stats don't really show, that a lot of those instances there was a witness and we held someone responsible," he said.
According to the report, "individuals who came forward or were identified as responsible for the damage were billed individually." If no individual is held responsible for damage, the charges are billed to all residents of the building. Baxter members were each charged $80, and Ladd members $23.50.
Kekeisen noted that Baxter House, which was placed on probation for excessive damages last year, has made efforts to hold others responsible when appropriate.
"At first it's kind of an awkward situation where if you see a teammate doing something, it's like, do you speak out or do you just let the house make the payment?" he explained. "I actually think the house has done a really good job this year keeping people in check so that the house doesn't take the brunt of the punishment."