Spring Break
The Daily OrangeCoed bathrooms are more than awkward, they're illegal
By Rob Howard
Posted: 9/8/03, 3:17 AM EST Section: Feature
"I wouldn't want to be in a coed bathroom," sophomore mechanical engineering major Chad Vest said. There's something unattractive, he added, about performing bodily functions with girls in the room.
At least one student had a stronger stomach. David Weinberg, a sophomore engineering major, transferred to Syracuse from Union College in Schenectady. He said his residence hall floor there had a coed bathroom and two single-sex bathrooms. The coed bathroom, he said, didn't cause much trouble.
"There was no problem having them (at Union)," he said. "We had stalls and everything, so it's not like you could see anything. Not many people minded. I think out of 50 people on our floor only one person had a problem with it."
Under closer examination, however, Weinberg did reveal a small problem with the coed setup. When students get a little too intoxicated, they tend to pull some embarrassing stunts, and such accidents are only magnified when they happen in the bathroom. One drunken evening, Weinberg was using the bathroom when his body decided to change gears. He spun around to throw up, and realized that in his inebriated state he'd forgotten a very important part of bathroom etiquette.
"I was really messed up," he said. "So messed up, I couldn't even close the stall door. And there were girls ... in the bathroom. That was pretty embarrassing."
Not every wasted trip the bathroom ends so catastrophically, but the prospect still worries partiers.
"More accidents could probably happen from a coed bathroom than anything else," Bowles said. "If you're drunk, and you're stumbling into the bathroom, and you don't know what's going on, that could be pretty bad."
The Shower Scene
Drunken humiliation notwithstanding, some creative residents have come up with a more stimulating use for a coed bathroom - hooking up.
"Having sex in the shower is just funner than having sex in a normal bed," said Derek Hanna, a sophomore speech communication major. Hanna went on to describe the erotic details of such an encounter, all the way down to his favorite stall.
At least one student had a stronger stomach. David Weinberg, a sophomore engineering major, transferred to Syracuse from Union College in Schenectady. He said his residence hall floor there had a coed bathroom and two single-sex bathrooms. The coed bathroom, he said, didn't cause much trouble.
"There was no problem having them (at Union)," he said. "We had stalls and everything, so it's not like you could see anything. Not many people minded. I think out of 50 people on our floor only one person had a problem with it."
Under closer examination, however, Weinberg did reveal a small problem with the coed setup. When students get a little too intoxicated, they tend to pull some embarrassing stunts, and such accidents are only magnified when they happen in the bathroom. One drunken evening, Weinberg was using the bathroom when his body decided to change gears. He spun around to throw up, and realized that in his inebriated state he'd forgotten a very important part of bathroom etiquette.
"I was really messed up," he said. "So messed up, I couldn't even close the stall door. And there were girls ... in the bathroom. That was pretty embarrassing."
Not every wasted trip the bathroom ends so catastrophically, but the prospect still worries partiers.
"More accidents could probably happen from a coed bathroom than anything else," Bowles said. "If you're drunk, and you're stumbling into the bathroom, and you don't know what's going on, that could be pretty bad."
The Shower Scene
Drunken humiliation notwithstanding, some creative residents have come up with a more stimulating use for a coed bathroom - hooking up.
"Having sex in the shower is just funner than having sex in a normal bed," said Derek Hanna, a sophomore speech communication major. Hanna went on to describe the erotic details of such an encounter, all the way down to his favorite stall.
