Damage reports from Fling mirror past years

Spring Fling festivities have wound down, but the task of assessing damages to facilities caused in the Quadrangle during the weekend-long event is just picking up.

Facilities Services officials have yet to release reports on the exact extent of damages but said that episodes of vandalism reported in the Quad occurred at a similar rate to years past.

In Fisher Hassenfeld College House, for example, "a student who had a habit of leaving his room unlocked left his room on Friday," Fisher House Dean Jane Rogers said. "When he returned on Saturday, he found that someone had entered the room and had broken a window."

While this event cannot be considered a break-in because the door was unlocked, Rogers said that there was also an unsuccessful attempt to pry open one of the locks barring a public space.

Other acts of vandalism included holes punched in the walls and hallway signs ripped down.

"Some of that always happens during Fling," Rogers said. "Most of it is done by [Penn students] who have no connection to the house."

College House officials added that the amount of damage caused by people unaffiliated with Penn is usually small.

"Our own students are capable of doing enough damage," Rogers said. "The percentage of damage done by outsiders is minuscule."

As in other years, the amount of damages registered is relatively small. However, more detailed accounts will be available as soon as an official assessment of the situation is made.

"The staff is collecting the data for early this week," Rogers said. "Then I will hold our weekly meeting with Facilities and make a report to" College Houses and Academic Services.

As a consequence, Facilities officials have yet to release the damage report that details the maintenance repairs needed in the Quad after Fling.

"The reports have not come to me yet," Facilities Director of Central Services Mike Coleman said.

He added that for as much as can be said at the moment, "there are no serious damages on the outside, just the usual wear and tear."

This year's Fling was the first to implement a stricter guest pass policy, allowing only two guests per student. Officials cited concern about damage caused by outside visitors when issuing the new guest policy.

"We work with the administration so [as] not to have too many total strangers in the Quadrangle all at once," said Social Planning and Events Committee Spring Fling Co-Director and Engineering junior Michael Pao. "We resolved this [policy] to keep Penn students and their guests more safe."

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