Who Knew?

by Eileen Gilligan

Q. Can one really “plug in” at the bathrooms of Memorial Library?
A. If you’re wondering why, so are the folks in the library. Ironically, there is no paper trail to explain the existence of these two data jacks, located in the men’s restroom by faculty offices on the fifth floor and on the fourth-floor mezzanine.

“To our knowledge, those are the only two bathrooms that are wired,” says Don Johnson, director of external relations for the General Library System. “It isn’t something we asked for. It wasn’t part of any kind of wiring plan.”

According to library folklore, Johnson says, AT&T workers wired the building for Internet hookups and the like in a major rewiring program begun in the mid-1980s. Apparently, they worked with little oversight, he says, and these two jacks may be the result of their creative wiring efforts.

“The workers obviously had a sense of humor,” Johnson adds. “Why else would they put a data jack right next to a urinal?”

When library computer connections were upgraded recently, obviously these two hookups were not included, Johnson says.

Q. How often do windows get washed on campus?
A. In the words of Rick Sternhagen, superintendent of buildings and grounds, “That’s a good question.” The goal is for each building’s windows to be washed – inside and out – every three years, he says. (“I have people calling me every day to complain,” he adds.)

But that’s easier said than done. The window washer job has been expanded in recent years to include moving furniture, fixing odd jobs, setting up for special events – and even hoisting the flags that punctuate the walkways on Bascom Hill.

His staff of 22, now called “facility repair workers,” must divide their time among all those tasks. As a result, barely half the staff actually gets to wash windows.

New safety regulations also have cut into previous, faster ways of cleaning windows in older buildings like North and South halls. So after they devise new ways to clean, the crew may spend more time on the job, he notes. They also participate in the CURB program to upgrade selected buildings.

What do window washers do in the dead of winter? Clean light fixtures and other indoor jobs, and even help out on snow removal, Sternhagen says. As more buildings get added to campus, there’s always more to do.