GUEST COLUMN: "Pitching in would like Penn pride

Nicole Maloy says picking up after ourselves and our peers is the key to keeping campus presentable. I find this last argument funny because Robbins is a residential advisor in the Quadrangle -- a bastion of cleanliness and responsibility, as we all know. What can anyone, including Residential Living, do? Assign someone to follow every student around with a pooper scooper and a dustpan? Unless the University will pay for a live-in cleaning staff in each dorm to make sure there's never a mess, someone's going to have to stop making one. Has anyone seen the kind of crap people leave lying around, even in their own residences? Pizza boxes with food still in them, cans leaking soda and glass bottles on heating vents are a norm, and someone dares to complain about rats and roaches? I thought they were invited. Those who leave messes in other people's residences leave me speechless. Hopefully they were raised by wolves; if not, there is still no excuse for their behavior, and they should go back to where they came from, where such behavior is obviously acceptable. Look around your classrooms. When people eat or drink in class or in study areas, I don't care -- gum chomping is far more annoying -- but what about when they're done? Are the paper plates, foil wrappers and Philadelphia cream cheese packages supposed to melt away? Someone seems to think so, because every day I see that garbage on the floor and even right on tables and desks. "Well, maybe," I think to myself, "they were so engrossed in the subject matter that they just forgot to take this with them. Maybe they just picked up the coat and the book bag and just didn't see this still here. Maybe?" Maybe they're a bunch of lazy slobs. Some are probably stupid (read: "I'm gonna leave this right here! That's what I'm gonna do! Huh huh huh!") but others are probably spoiled, or rude, or just oblivious. Whatever they may be, they each chose to bring something in, and they each left without taking it back out with them. So? So, to anyone who has ever commented on the appearance of this campus, to anyone who wants more recycling options, to anyone who would like to sit down without worrying about crumbs and butter smears on tables and desks, you owe it to your words, your thoughts and everyone here (including yourselves) to throw away the trash you generate. If you bring a paper plate to class, take it out. Better yet, why not place it in one of the conveniently located trash receptacles at each exit? Why do you think they're located there? Perhaps because someone is banking on the fact that you'll eventually leave the room. However, they're also assuming that you will pick up your trash and have it with you at that time. I know everyone can pick up his or her garbage, if only to carry it where he or she is already going. And if you really become inspired, there are bins around campus for aluminum cans, glass, paper and plastic, some even located inside classroom buildings and residences. Freshmen, please get into this habit now. Spring is coming, and with it, The First Nice Day of the Year. I don't want you to wait until That Day to find out how bad it can get. As the sun sets, you will see the chaos that always overtakes College Green. At midday, it's 65 degrees, people in shorts are eating lunches by the Peace Sign, music is playing and the campus is alive. But picture it a little cooler and a little darker, and you'll see the Green covered with crap. Trash is everywhere, completely blanketing the grass. I cannot believe that the lunch-eaters and the frisbee-players and the DP-readers couldn't carry any of their stuff to a trash can. Even if the closest one was full, I don't care. It looks absolutely sad, it's embarrassing -- and you can ask anyone who's been here if I'm right. If you think I'm some environmentalist granola eater -- well, I happen to think granola is very tasty. Besides, it takes much less effort to take garbage to cans and recycling bins than it does to take the original items to class or to the Green; by the time it's garbage it is smaller, weighs less and can fit in your bag or backpack (or hands!) easily for the trip to the nearest receptacle. Recently I sat down in class near an empty potato chip bag. A classmate sat down next to me, in front of the bag, and pushed it over as if to say "Your garbage, your responsibility." Understanding this, I said simply, "That's not mine." "Oh," he said, and smiled. "Sorry." "No problem," I replied. It wasn't. He could have pushed it to the other side, where it probably would have stayed for the day, a distraction and an invitation for Wild Kingdom in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall. Instead, my classmate politely did the opposite. I could have been offended and made a scene, but honestly, is it hard to believe someone would push garbage over to the seat next to him or her and leave it there? No. It could have been mine, and he deserves respect because he didn't ignore it. My classmate's behavior is a start. Until students hold themselves and one another responsible for the cleanliness of our residences and our classrooms and our campus as a whole, none of us has the right to complain. And yes, administratively, more could be done. And you know what else? We could do more, too. Half of the problem is that we're not. Who is making the mess? That is the question. We have immediate control over what we do, not over what anyone else does. Our primary focus, therefore, should be on making sure we are doing something to remedy the problems about which we complain, whatever they may be. In the meantime, out of respect for all the other people who live near you, go to class near you and share a campus with you, please. Do your part to keep it clean.

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