In the aftermath of the lockdown on Jan. 15, custodians had to sanitize many classrooms, clean the trash cans and buckets full of urine due to students not being able to leave until the campus was safe and sound.
To some, being in the classroom for eight hours became aggravating and few of the students needed to use the restroom.
Some professors allowed their students to use the campus restrooms but other professors did not allow their students to leave the classroom under any circumstance because of lockdown protocol. .
Due to the threat, some professors prepared buckets for urination use. Students also attempted to use the trash can and their water bottles as a second source.
“Girls used the trashcan and boys used their water bottle, but no one left my classroom until we had a clear signal.” Mohamad Trad, professor of mathematics said.
Lisa Ross, a political science professor, explained how students in her classroom stayed in and created a corner for students to use the restroom as well.
“We were in there, you know, for six, seven hours so people needed to go to the restroom,” Ross said. “We had a corner in the room, where we obviously put the weave basket in that corner and people had privacy ⋯ because we were told to have the lights off. So we were in the dark and they used it to go to the bathroom so it was perfect.”
Skilled maintenance technician Phil Hawkins explained his experience in cleaning up after the lockdown.
“I was part of the cleanup team from the lockdown and it was unpleasant, as you can imagine dealing with a trash can with 3-4 gallons of urine and in some cases a little feces mixed in,” Hawkins said.
He then explained how the school could be more prepared when there is a situation such as this one.
“I think one way for the campus to be better prepared would be to provide a five gallon bucket with a lid and in the bucket you could keep supplies such as water bottles, toilet paper, energy bars and maybe a cloth that can be hung from the ceiling to provide a privacy barrier. Some of the classrooms used tables and other furniture to create privacy for people to relieve themselves. After the incident we can just put the lid on the bucket and turn the bucket in as a hazardous material and the lid should be used during the incident to keep the stench at a minimum in-between its intended use.” Hawkins said.
