Wash U. bathrooms: a hidden science
Sarah Ulrey
Issue date: 5/2/05 Section: Scene
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The site, which has been up for about a week, offers evaluations of nearly all of Hilltop Campus's bathrooms. Locations are assessed for ambiance, cleanliness and facilities. The more toilet paper symbols they receive, the better they score.
"A good bathroom is a refuge," says webmaster Ben Dweck. "A bathroom should make you feel comfortable."
A word that came up a lot during the year-long review process was "institutional," says Dweck. Institutional was bad. Three-way mirrors and nice lighting were good.
Dweck and fellow seniors, Jacquelyn Lane, Laura Krotowski and Laura Tabat compiled the site. Forty percent of the reviews need to be written before the database is complete, Dweck says.
Why bathrooms? Why not?
"I mean it's obviously a joke," Dweck says. "But obviously it's too time consuming for a joke. I think it will turn people on to bathrooms they didn't know about."
www.wubathrooms.com promises more services in the future. They are considering interviewing Mr. Wash U to get his celebrity opinions on the best places to do your business. A feature on the Love Stall in Mallinckrodt's women's bathroom may be coming soon, and they plan to interview some SWA members and get the scoop on how the admission's bathroom held up during the 19-day sit-in.
Sophomore David Hall has visited the site and hopes to learn more about Wash U.'s bathrooms when the reviews are complete.
"They are right on target with the bathrooms because everyone takes different classes with their different majors, but there are many bathrooms on campus that everyone uses," Hall says. "Thus it is something that joins all of campus together."
Hall's favorite bathroom is on the first floor of Eads, but the Web site ranks the restroom in the basement of Sever at the top of their Top 5 list. The bathroom in Prince Hall near room 229 took first worst.
The wubathrooms team usually visited bathrooms on Saturday afternoons, when restroom traffic was low. Dweck went into girls' and boys' bathrooms, as did the ladies who took the pictures that accompany the reviews.
"Bathrooms can be surprisingly beautiful," Dweck says.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Marianne Leiber
posted 8/07/07 @ 4:34 PM CST
You say "bathrooms can be suprisingly beautiful", well you should check out White Cloud's America's Worst Bathroom contest. They're actually looking for the dirstiest and nastiest of the bunch. (Continued…)
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