My Beef with the Mulroney Bathrooms

Last week I was going to class at Mulroney Hall when, in the throes of flu season, I had to blow my nose. Because there’s only hand dryers in Mulroney washrooms I had to use toilet paper as Kleenex, but before I could do that I had to wait for a stall to open. As I was washing my hands I noticed another guy waiting to blow his nose too. Can’t there be a better way? I thought. This is pretty gross.

You may have heard that hand dryers are not more sanitary than paper towels, in fact, there seems to be a consensus that they are worse in regard to cleanliness. Air based hand-dryers cover the user’s hands with anything that could be in the surrounding air. Thousands of students on campus spreading germs and viruses makes sanitation crucially important for university health. Particles which should only be found in the bathroom can instead be found on the hands of students, increasing the risk of disease and illness.

It is unfortunate that in one of our campus’ nicest buildings people cannot blow their nose, clean a spill, or wipe off a space, unless they are bringing their own supplies. Every other bathroom on campus is stocked with paper-towels with some even having Kleenex. James Bruce Brown, Annex, and MSB, some of the school’s oldest buildings have clean, reliable and stocked washrooms. It is weird that it’s some of the newest buildings who lack paper-towels. It is embarrassing to rush into the stall after someone. I just want to blow my nose without waiting for someone to leave the stall. It is also inconvenient to have to choose between unsanitary air-dryers and going to class with wet hands. I know that this is not an issue which bothers every student but it is a needless inconvenience and the Mulroney experience would be better without it.

I do not want to give the impression that bathrooms are a students biggest concern. Tuition is too high, we are facing funding cuts from Premier Tim Houston (see the News Section for further information), and entire faculties are struggling from hiring shortages. This new complaint is not meant to distract you from larger concerns. This is a small problem; that’s part of the reason I’m complaining. A box of Kleenex or a role of hand towels in the Mulroney washroom would solve this micro-problem. I do not want you to be angrier about wet hands than about your tuition, the price of text-books or any other major issues. I just want to note that if you’re in Mulroney and you knock a water bottle over, the nearest paper towel could be a bit too far away.