by Lana Douglas
staff writer
It’s the same for all students at Bryan. We all want to decorate our rooms to make it feel more homey and comfortable. But what you may not know is that you could get a fine at the end of the school year if the tape you use causes damage to the wall.
The Community Life Handbook says, Plasti-tak® and low-temp hot craft glue are the only fasteners allowed to attach posters to “non-bulletin board” surfaces. However, some students still use tape to hang up their posters and other decorations.
Leta Dyer, environmental services supervisor, said there has been more tape used on the walls recently.
The average fine for damage to the walls due to tape is $25, but there was one room last year that was fined $100 for the damage caused by duct tape, said Gary Cheon, service technician and student work coordinator.
“Any kind of tape will leave some residue after it has been on your wall for nine months,” he said.
Cheon said he avoids giving fines whenever possible, but after all the students leave for summer break, the housekeeping staff is stuck taking the sticky messes off the walls.
There are a few alternatives to tape for hanging up your rock star posters and pictures from home. Command® strips by 3M are easy to remove at the end of the year, and Plasti-tak is another great alternative to tape.
If you were unaware of this rule or the damage tape could cause to your wall or maybe your Command strip left a little extra residue, don’t panic. Just e-mail a work order and let Maintenance know that you need some cleaning supplies to remove the residue.
Goo-gone® and Oops® are some good cleaners to help remove the residue from the walls.
Cheon said he is willing to work with students to help them repair the damaged walls; just don’t wait until the day before summer break to contact him.
During summer break Cheon has about eight people on staff who work for weeks cleaning out the dorms, removing tape and repairing the damage it has caused to the walls.
“It is so time consuming to take all the tape off the walls,” said Dyer.
Before you hang up that next poster, be sure that you use something like Plasti-tak that won’t leave a mess and cost you a fine.