Students Face Dish Fines

In a renewed struggle against dish hoarding, several House superintendents have planned a round of spring cleaning over spring break.

Students in Adams and Eliot Houses learned from their superintendents this week that they could face fines for any dining hall dishware found in their rooms during routine spring break maintenance inspections.

“Due to the huge amount of china missing from the dining hall anyone who has china in their room will be charged,” wrote Eliot superintendent Francisco Medeiros in an e-mail to all House residents.

In an e-mail posted on the Adams Schmooze list, House superintendent Jorge Teixeira specified a per-item fine.

“If any dishes from the dining hall are found,” he wrote, “students will be charged $5 for each one.”

But despite his statement, Teixeira said, no charges will actually be levied against Adams House residents.

In Winthrop House, superintendent David Simms said he plans to have his staff collect dining hall china from student suites but does not plan to impose fines. And some other Houses, such as Leverett and Dunster, have no plans to collect dishes during spring break room inspections.

In Houses where maintenance officials will seize dining hall china, the moves to curb dish hoarding come at a time when more traditional methods have failed.

This morning in Eliot and Kirkland Houses, Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) held a scheduled dishware pick-up where students could drop off silverware and other dining hall supplies they had stashed away in their rooms. The events had been well publicized but the results were dismal, said Rosemary E. McGahey, HUDS director for residential dining.

“We collected only one mug and a couple of bowls,” she said. “So it was a little bit disappointing.”

HUDS was not involved in the decision to announce fines for dining hall china in Adams and Eliot, she added. But she said HUDS welcomes the assistance of House maintenance staff in trying to alleviate an ongoing dish shortage.

“Each year, we spend tens of thousands of dollars to replace missing and broken china and flatware,” McGahey said.

But she estimated that only a small portion of these replacement costs are due to normal wear and tear.

And by the end of the year, when rooms are thoroughly cleaned and dishes are finally reunited with the dining hall, it’s often too late.

“By the time we get the dishes, some of them are so damaged that we couldn’t use them again because they are so soiled and because of health concerns,” she said.

Missing dishware is par for the course at college dining halls, said McGahey, who had worked at Boston University for 16 years before coming to Harvard.

Currently no plans are underway to add china collection to the standard set of room inspection tasks for House superintendents, said Zachary M. “Zak” Gingo, manager of administrative operations for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ physical resources department.

While his department had no hand in the decision to send the Adams and Eliot e-mails, Gingo said he hopes they will be effective.

This winter, superintendents in all Houses announced over e-mails that during regular winter room inspections they would specifically look for fire hazards and require students to fix the problems and pass a re-inspection.

“It really did have a positive impact,” he said. “Students did get the fire hazards out of their rooms, which was our ultimate goal. I hope that by analogy, these e-mails will encourage students to return dishes to the dining halls.”

Dorm crew workers said they know first-hand about the magnitude of the dish-hoarding problem.

“Last spring, we brought six or twelve trays down to the dining hall, stacked with about 12 plates each and tons of glasses,” said Amara L. Murray ’03, head captain of Dorm Crew, who organized the clean-up in Eliot last spring.

“It’s understandable when you find one cup, but when you find a room with a treasure trove of dishes, it’s really weird,” Murray said.

Alleviating the stress on dorm crew workers was one of the things Teixeira, the Adams House superintendent, said he hoped to accomplish with his e-mail threatening fines for stowaway china.

“What we’re doing is trying to help dorm crew at the end of the year,” he said, “so they’ll have fewer things to bring down.”

And so far, Teixeira said, it’s working—since he sent the e-mail, dish collection has already picked up.

“When my guys went to one of the rooms today, they found the dishes packed in a box outside,” he said.

Whether students return dishes out of fear of a fine or just out of a desire to help out, Teixeira said he hopes they will appreciate the news when they find out there won’t be any fines after all.

“I think they will laugh, and then they will put their dishes outside the door for me to carry down,” he said. “And I will be happy with that.”

Although, he added quickly, it would be better if students return their dishes to the dining hall themselves.said. “So it was a little bit disappointing.”

HUDS was not involved in the decision to announce fines for dining hall china in Adams and Eliot, she added. But she said HUDS welcomes the assistance of House maintenance staff in trying to alleviate an ongoing dish shortage.

“Each year, we spend tens of thousands of dollars to replace missing and broken china and flatware,” McGahey said.

But she estimated that only a small portion of these replacement costs are due to normal wear and tear.

And by the end of the year, when rooms are thoroughly cleaned and dishes are finally reunited with the dining hall, it’s often too late.

“By the time we get the dishes, some of them are so damaged that we couldn’t use them again because they are so soiled and because of health concerns,” she said.

Missing dishware is par for the course at college dining halls, said McGahey, who had worked at Boston University for 16 years before coming to Harvard.

Currently no plans are underway to add china collection to the standard set of room inspection tasks for House superintendents, said Zachary M. “Zak” Gingo, manager of administrative operations for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ physical resources department.

While his department had no hand in the decision to send the Adams and Eliot e-mails, Gingo said he hopes they will be effective.

This winter, superintendents in all Houses announced over e-mails that during regular winter room inspections they would specifically look for fire hazards and require students to fix the problems and pass a re-inspection.

“It really did have a positive impact,” he said. “Students did get the fire hazards out of their rooms, which was our ultimate goal. I hope that by analogy, these e-mails will encourage students to return dishes to the dining halls.”

Dorm crew workers said they know first-hand about the magnitude of the dish-hoarding problem.

“Last spring, we brought six or twelve trays down to the dining hall, stacked with about 12 plates each and tons of glasses,” said Amara L. Murray ’03, head captain of Dorm Crew, who organized the clean-up in Eliot last spring.

“It’s understandable when you find one cup, but when you find a room with a treasure trove of dishes, it’s really weird,” Murray said.

Alleviating the stress on dorm crew workers was one of the things Teixeira, the Adams House superintendent, said he hoped to accomplish with his e-mail threatening fines for stowaway china.

“What we’re doing is trying to help dorm crew at the end of the year,” he said, “so they’ll have fewer things to bring down.”

And so far, Teixeira said, it’s working—since he sent the e-mail, dish collection has already picked up.

“When my guys went to one of the rooms today, they found the dishes packed in a box outside,” he said.

Whether students return dishes out of fear of a fine or just out of a desire to help out, Teixeira said he hopes they will appreciate the news when they find out there won’t be any fines after all.

“I think they will laugh, and then they will put their dishes outside the door for me to carry down,” he said. “And I will be happy with that.”

Although, he added quickly, it would be better if students return their dishes to the dining hall themselves.