Post Classifieds
Gum on campus proves to be a sticky situation
By Katie Anderson
On November 7, 2012
Upon arriving to one of my classes last week, I realized the chairs in the room had been slightly
rearranged by the previous class. I took the initiative to move the chairs back to their usual positions
facing the front of the classroom.
As I grabbed one chair by the attached desk, what my fingers felt on the underside of the desk made me
cringe.
"Please no," I thought to myself. "Do not let this be what I think it is."
Lifting up the desk part of the chair, I saw a colorful panel of chewed gum that almost completely
covered the bottom of the desk. Immediately reaching for my bag, I took out my hand sanitizer and
doused my fingers in the apple-scented cleanser.
Unfortunately, this is one recurring incident that probably happens to many students around campus.
There are some classrooms on campus with desks I'm afraid to even touch without putting rubber
gloves on first.
The question here is why students are okay with sticking their gum underneath desks when there is a
garbage can in every classroom.
This gum-sticking business is certainly not limited to the classroom either. Some sidewalks on campus
are completely covered with gum. I've seen gum left on tables in the Union and even disposed of in
water fountains.
What students might not realize is that spitting gum where others may accidentally come in contact
with it, is a very efficient way to spread germs throughout campus.
With the weather changing, flu season is well underway and students should be concerned with staying
healthy for the rest of the semester. One way to stay healthy is to avoid exposure to other people's
germs. But when people leave their gum all over campus, germ avoidance may not be as easy as one
may anticipate.
Spitting gum where one chooses is not only disgusting and a way to spread germs, but it can also be
devastating to our environment. This non-biodegradable substance is becoming a litter problem on
campus that can potentially cause many environmental hazards.
Chewing gum became such a huge litter problem in Singapore that the government made it illegal in
1992 and kept it illegal for over a decade.
I'm not recommending a ban on chewing gum at Buffalo State, especially since I've attended that
morning class where the guy who sits next to you consistently forgets to brush his teeth before he
leaves his house each day. A piece of gum can be a lifesaver when in "sticky" or awkward situations
such as a first date, a job interview or even when you're meeting fellow students on the first day of
class.
However, I fully support a healthy campus environment, even if it means getting up to throw my gum
in the trashcan instead of sticking it under the desk.
Students should try to be a little more considerate of people around them by taking an extra step to
dispose of gum in a trashcan instead of the sidewalk, the desks or the water fountains. The result will
be beneficial to the health of all students as well as our campus environment.
Katie Anderson can be reached by email at anderson.record@live.com.
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