MTSU: will she have to pay to repair the door?

hoosier · #1 02-08-2005, 01:43 PM

Student locked in dorm bathroom
By Sandi Van Orden
Published: Monday, February 7, 2005

Failure to install phones in residence hall bathrooms caused one student to be trapped for almost 29 hours during the holiday break.
"That did slip through the cracks," said Douglas Williams, executive director of news and public affairs.
"[Phones] were going to be put in through the holiday season," Williams said.
The phones were temporary in the event that a student locked himself in the bathroom while other students were home for break. It would be less likely for a student to be trapped for a considerable length of time during the normal semester, according to Williams.
On Dec. 21, a resident of Deere Hall went into the bathroom connected to her room, according to a police report. The door was locked from the outside, and she was unable to contact anyone to get her out, according to a police report filed with the MTSU Police Department.
The resident's parents called Housing and Residential Life asking for someone to check her room because they couldn't reach her.
The student's room had been checked by Timothy Marten, a coordinator for housing and residential life, but he did not contact the police when she wasn't there, according to the police report.
"The Marten subject advised that this happens about six times a week, and Housing does not want to bother the police for such things a that," according to the police report.
Marten was not available when contacted.
When Marten entered the room there was nothing out of order, there was no known reason that he should have contacted police officers, according to Williams.
"She had to break a towel rack from the wall and she chipped away at the door until she could get the door opened, and then she went to an emergency call box to call for help," according to the police report.
Currently, there are no phones in the bathrooms of Deere Hall where the student was trapped, according to Sarah Sudak, director of university housing and residential life.
"We do not encourage students to live with us over break," Sudak said.

kddani · #2 02-08-2005, 01:54 PM

i've never seen a phone in a bathroom except at nice hotels...

Plus my dorms were always closed over winter break

Coramoor · #3 02-08-2005, 01:58 PM

Why are there locks on the outside of the doors?

moe.ron · #4 02-08-2005, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Coramoor
Why are there locks on the outside of the doors?

I was wondering the same thing.

AGDee · #5 02-08-2005, 02:21 PM

Our bathroom doors had locks on the outside. There was one bathroom connecting two suites and you could lock the door from your room to keep someone else from coming in through the bathroom. The doorknob locks were on the outside and there were deadbolt type locks from the inside. If they wish to keep the locks that way, they could use locks that can only be locked with a key so that you couldn't lock it accidentally.

valkyrie · #6 02-08-2005, 03:23 PM

OMG that is terrible.

ETA: I lived in a dorm that had suites, where two rooms shared a bathroom and kitchen. As far as I remember, you couldn't lock the door from inside the bathroom, which makes sense because then nobody can get trapped in there.

KSigkid · #7 02-08-2005, 03:34 PM

It never even occurred to me that dorm bathrooms should have phones. It's horrible that this happened to that girl, but really, how often does something like this happen?

If they can afford it, I guess every little bit helps though.

KillarneyRose · #8 02-08-2005, 04:01 PM

At least she had access to the potty.

ZTAngel · #9 02-08-2005, 04:30 PM

UCF has the same set up for a few of their dorms except I think the bathroom can be locked from both the inside and outside (deadbolt on the outside and regular lock on the inside). Tons of people get locked out of their bathroom because of it. My friend's suitemate would lock the bathroom door when she took a shower but when she was done, she'd forget to unlock my friend's access door. If my friend needed the bathroom and her suitemates were already gone to class or something, she'd have to call the RA to let her into her own bathroom.
My dorm wasn't set up that way, thankfully.

Coramoor · #10 02-08-2005, 04:31 PM

Why not have those deadbolt type locks rather than the ones that you can just pull close behind you?

That would solve the problem of locking yourself in the bathroom.

RedRoseSAI · #11 02-08-2005, 04:35 PM

Seems like a chain lock on the outside of the bathroom door would keep out bad suitements, but not have anyone accidently locked inside the bathroom.

Tom Earp · #12 02-08-2005, 07:15 PM

Think I will drink about 3 quick glasses of Grape Juice and Puke My Guts up!

29 as in hours, F, would have beat the damn door into splinters!

How Stupid is this person unless they are trying to hiberf---nate and shed Pounds of Fat.

ZetaLuvBunny · #13 04-15-2005, 04:25 AM

This girl is a close friend of mine. She had payed an extra $200+ to stay in her dorm over the Christmas break so she could work. She apparently forgot that maintainance was supposed to come spray for bugs that day, so that is why someone locked her inside.

She had gone into the bathroom to take a shower & was left in the bathroom completely naked with nothing but a towel to keep her warm for the entire time. She had bruises galore after the incident, and was very traumatized.