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Monday, September 28, 1998

Use only the cleanest, prettiest restrooms when nature calls

REVIEW: Avoid high traffic facilities in Ackerman, check out Kerckhoff, Covel Commons bathrooms

By Michelle Navarro

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

There are a few things in life everyone must do. Rich, poor, old and young all must eat and sleep to properly function, day in and day out.

And, of course, there is that other, less glamorous part of life that belongs on that list as well - paying a visit to the bathroom.

Lavatory, bathroom, rest room, powder room - pick a name, it's all the same. It's the sanctuary for that call of nature that must be obeyed. Whether out camping in the desert or in a crowded city street, if one has to go, one must go, no matter what the surroundings may be.

It is this horrible fact of life that forces people to endure such tragic bathroom problems such as no toilet paper, long lines, missing stall doors and the strange graffiti found in the third-floor Ackerman bathrooms.

Fortunately, on a campus as large as UCLA, there are a variety of rest rooms to choose from. So, even though students must remain slaves to nature, they still have a choice of where to run to in their time of need.

Among the bathrooms peppered along Bruin grounds, there is a fair share of the good and the bad. Unfortunately, most of the less desirable rooms are in the high traffic areas of campus. The better ones are around - they're just a little hidden.

Ackerman Union sits on a major vein of student flow, so naturally its rest rooms receive a high amount of usage throughout the day. Yet, they haven't gotten rave reviews from students.

"The one in Ackerman Union is like an airport bathroom," said Eugene Park, a graduate of the University of Illinois, who was on campus to take a summer course. "You just go in and out and do your business. You're on the clock."

Perhaps that's what is needed in an area where people just need a place to stop on the way to class.

Across the bridge on the first floor of Kerckhoff Hall, however, are rest rooms worth going the extra yard for. Not many students pass through Kerckhoff, so these bathrooms stay relatively decent throughout the day.

Cleanliness isn't the only aspect that sets them apart. It's the environment as well.

As opposed to the metallic stalls and pale yellow walls of the rest room on the second floor, the first-floor Kerckhoff rest rooms are lined with gray and green tiles. The water from the faucet flows generously in a waterfall-like fashion and, most importantly, it's air-conditioned. Nice.

Royce Hall and Covel Commons have similarly styled, well-ventilated lavatories where colorful tiles adorn the walls.

Appearances aren't everything though; a couple of students prefer the rest room in Powell Library for its abundance of space.

"It's so spacious," Park said. "It's like a lecture hall. It's a whole other course."

"It makes you feel like you're on a throne," said Wen Fan, a fourth-year biology student.

Where design, cleanliness and space may characterize a good bathroom, inconvenience identifies a bad one. For example the Covel Commons rest rooms, which were admired for their environment, fall into this trap.

"It's bad because it's outside the cafeteria," said Chi Man Yue, a UCLA alumnus. "If you have to go, it's annoying."

One other rest room inconvenience plagues only female Bruins, and on this campus it has proved troublesome to one student.

"The worst bathrooms are on South Campus," said Vivian Ghindi, a fifth-year World, Arts and Cultures student. "Not one has a maxi pad machine. At least in North Campus you have a chance of finding one."

Although everyone has their lavatory pet peeves, the healthy side is another aspect that may be hard to see with the naked eye, but must not be ignored.

Floating and sitting around the sinks and toilet seats are a wide array of bacteria. If the degree of cleanliness is any indication of how germ-laden a bathroom is, one may quickly reason that men's rooms are worse than women's.

Although more trash may be found lying around in the men's room, as one facilities management employee pointed out, last year the American Society of Microbiology reported that women's rest rooms are more ridden with germs than men's.

The report cited reasons for this as being that women are more likely to bring children in with them, visit the bathroom more frequently, and stay around longer.

Of course, one way to fight the lurking micro-dangers, which may spread anything from a cold to diarrhea and other intestinal problems, is to wash your hands before leaving.

Sadly, in another study, the American Society for Microbiology found that only 74 percent of women and 61 percent of men wash up.

With so many things to worry about, choosing a bathroom is tricky. So the next time nature makes a call, keep options in mind.

As for the bacterial worries, it's something a little washing can help. It may seem cumbersome at times, but it's necessary for restricting those germs to the bathrooms.

Perhaps a scenic view could make the task a little more pleasant.

"I like the bathroom in Haines Hall because the view is so pretty," Ghindi nodded convincingly. "As you wash your hands you can look upon Perloff Quad."

CHARLES KUO

The restrooms in Covel Commons get the thumbs up for colorful tiles, potted plants and tissue dispensers that pop out from the walls. However, their location outside, instead of inside, the dining halls gets a thumbs down.

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© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board[Home]

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