Efforts from residents and staff in the Ellicott Complex have resulted in more efficient laundry rooms after malfunctioning machines frustrated students earlier in the semester.
One Ellicott Complex residential manager said the repairs resulted from a September article published in The Spectrum, which reported finding that many of the machines in the complex did not function properly.
The Sept. 17 article said 22 dryers were inoperative out of the 74 in the complex.
On Monday, The Spectrum conducted another analysis of the laundry rooms in Ellicott and found only six broken dryers out of 74 in the complex.
Don Erb, the residential facilities manager of the Ellicott Complex, was pleased with the improvement and credited more responsible behavior from students since The Spectrum's initial article.
"I think that's an excellent change," Erb said. "I'd like to think it's due to the original article."
As in the September survey of dryers in Ellicott, Monday's survey revealed Porter and Spaulding Quad yielded the best results. All of the dryers in both quads were functional. Wilkeson Quad also performed well, with only one of its 12 dryers broken.
Fargo and Richmond Quad, which posted the worst results in September with six broken dryers each, improved significantly. One dryer was broken in Fargo and none were reported broken in Richmond.
Nicholas Penninipede, a senior media studies major and Fargo resident, noticed an increase in teamwork between students and repair personnel to remedy the problem.
"Earlier it was definitely hard to get the laundry done because a lot of the washers and dryers were broken," Penninipede said. "But last time I did laundry there was only one or two machines broken. There were also students posting signs saying 'don't use this dryer.'"
Erb encouraged students to continue to place "Out of Order" signs on the machines.
"I'd like to believe that people began to put more 'Out of Order' signs on the machines," he said. "We need the cooperation of the students. If they find any broken machines they should put the 'Out of Order' sign up and we'll take care of it."
Red Jacket was the only laundry room that did not improve. As in September, four of its 15 dryers were out of commission.
Kathryn Whalen, a junior anthropology and geology double major, said Red Jacket residents and officials may not have responded to the article as well as other quads.
"Maybe the people in the other buildings complained. Maybe they read the first article," Whalen said.
Cara Frey, a sophomore psychology and health and human services major, was appalled at Red Jacket's results.
"It should be zero dryers broken," she said. "They should get a repairman on call. 24 hours on call."
However, some Ellicott residents say though most of the washers and dryers work now, there aren't enough of them to accommodate the students.
"I don't think it's the dryers being broken. I think it's the availability of the dryers," said Sophia King, a junior finance major and residential advisor in Porter Quad. "There's about 300 people per dorm and there's about 12 dryers per hall. For the most part, residents do their laundry on the weekends and in the evening."
King advised students to wash their clothes when laundry traffic is low.
"Allocate time in your schedule so it doesn't take the whole day," King said.
According to some students, more machines might be the answer.
"I lived in Red Jacket last year and they had more machines," said Melissa Pace, a junior psychology and communication major. "They did fix a lot of the machines but there's still not enough of them. Whenever I do laundry, the machines are always full. People bring their clothes down and leave them in there forever."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
