Last fall, several Hadley Village residents were surprised to be slapped with fines for leaving everyday items out in the hall.
Since winter break - and the appointment of a new hall director- the problems have stopped, according to officials and residents.
In a Nov. 7, 2003 article "One Student's Trash..." The Spectrum reported that a handful of Hadley residents found out the hard way that they could be fined or warned for leaving a bike or a Halloween decoration in the hall.
But this semester, fine activity is down. Now students get warnings, and officials say they leave less trash in the hall in the first place.
"Since I've started here, only one room has been fined for trash," said Brian Steinberg, the new complex director at Hadley. "The custodian said there were eight bags of garbage in the alcove area, which led to all four people who lived that apartment to be fined $25 per person."
According to Beth MacEachin, the assistant director for University Apartments, the fines have stopped because there is less trash in the hallways.
"We've seen absolute improvement," said MacEachin. "The Spectrum's article was very helpful, and the custodial staff is very happy."
She said a few students still disregard the rules, and some common courtesy concepts.
"Bicycles are still being found in the hallways, and snow gets tracked in from people not wiping off their shoes," said MacEachin.
According to Steinberg, in most cases, the custodians will give a verbal warning for trash found in the alcove area.
"I kind of leave it up to (the custodians), because they are the ones that have to deal with removing it," he said.
Steinberg added that there has been some concern from Hadley residents about salt stains on the carpet from their shoes, and he is exploring the possibility of a special compartment for shoes outside every apartment.
"Hopefully we will eventually have a linoleum compartment outside each apartment room because students are concerned that salt will wear away at their carpets," said Steinberg. "When I do apartment assessments, I'm not going to charge for that."
Emily Robb, a junior media study major, was interviewed by The Spectrum in the Nov. 7 story after she was fined for leaving a pumpkin in the hallway shortly after Halloween.
Robb said she is still hesitant toward putting up festive decorations, but she's thinking about decorating for St. Patrick's Day.
"I am Irish-American, and would like to put a shamrock outside of our door, if that's allowed," she said.
According to Steinberg, there has been in increase in warnings before fining.
"We're not here to slap people with fines," he said. "Overall, it's gotten much better."
Robb said the increase in warning letters to residents who keep trash in their hallways is an improvement from unexpected punishment.
"It's better that we get a warning now," she said. "But it's still disgusting that we have to leave our cans inside."
To better handle issues and complaints, Steinberg recently initiated a Hadley council - though he said the first meeting on Feb. 18 received a poor turnout.
Steinberg said the next meeting will be held at 10 p.m. March 3 in the Hadley community center.
"It's going to be an open discussion to get people involved in their community," he said. "We want people to voice their concerns."
The agenda includes program idea planning, potential enhancements to the Hadley fitness room and other general improvements.
"This forum is held so we can constructively discuss how to make Hadley better," said Steinberg. "We want to know whatever (the residents) want to see Hadley do to make it a better place to live."
