Los Medanos College has been a satisfied recipient of many changes to its campus through out the past few years. It has a new library, math and science centers, not to mention loads of remodeling in which it is undergoing. Students appreciate the fresh, new atmosphere, but is it showing?
From the library to the cafeteria, the second and third floor, and even all of the way back to the lake, there are pieces of food and trash lingering around. The main areas affected are the cafeteria in particular, and on the tops of tables where students eat outside.
Custodian Gill Wagner, cleans the campus for eight hours every day and his job has gotten a bit tougher among the past few semesters. With the student enrollment increasing at LMC, so does the littering.
“There are two waves over the day where it gets bad, the morning and the evening, for night classes,” said Wagner.
With cut backs, LMC was forced to let go of its night custodian which has increased more work for Wagner and the rest of cleaning crew.
“The bathrooms are the worst. Also, we have a problem with spit. I’m constantly using a heavy machine, daily, to wash away all of the spit along with any other spills that may come along the day. Coffee, juice, soda. You name it,” explained Wagner.
While spit may be an ongoing issue, the trash around campus has decreased due to students dropping classes around this time, which according to Wagner, “That’s just how it works. The beginning of the semester is bad, then it calms down towards the end.”
Everywhere you look, there is a trashcan, along with recycling bins, so why litter?
“Most of the students here just don’t care. They may be 18, but act 16,” chuckled Wagner.
But some of the students feel differently about the issue.
“It’s always clean, the janitors are always taking the trash out and cleaning the bathrooms. They do a good job,” said LMC sophomore Claudia Romero.
LMC student Christine Thorpe agrees with Romero by adding, “I’ve never noticed litter at LMC ever.”
“I don’t see much litter on campus since I’ve been at LMC. They’ve improved the landscaping and I noticed shrubs planted. For the most part, the grounds are pretty clean. The only litter I see is in the restrooms. Women are some nasty creatures! It seems like they don’t know how to properly dispose of their sanitary napkins,” said LMC student Jo Jo Narag.
More trash, or less custodians on duty to do the work? No matter what the answer is, as students it is a must to clean up after ourselves and take pride in our campus and to utilize the trash cans.
