Posted on 02/14/2008 7:34:08 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
How do you get 6,000 college students whipped up into a lather?
Here's one way: Secretly install low-flow, eco-shower heads in their dorms over winter break.
The slow drip has triggered a deluge of complaints in bathrooms all over Stanford University. But a compromise may be ending the water wars.
Officials now promise to retrofit hundreds of showers with politically incorrect, higher-pressure nozzles.
With a fury normally reserved for the University of California-Berkeley, students complained in an e-mail petition, a letter-writing campaign, a newspaper editorial and meetings with Stanford officials.
"It is like showering under a sink faucet," said Christian Tom, a junior whose pro-pressure petition in the West Lagunita dorm garnered 50 signatures in just one day. "Are we hunger striking? Of course not. But it's annoying."
The debate spread to the Internet, revealing ideological splits.
Leftists accused the school of profiteering - "it's just a good excuse to save a few bucks" - and demanded a break on their room costs. A conservative blamed the idea on "some vegan freak who should move to Russia rather than pollute American soil with his communist ideas."
One stressed-out student worried about time management: "This translates into more time spent in the shower. Does everyone really have all those extra minutes?"
Another wondered: "In another few years, will there be a mandatory 'lights out' hour?"
"People really care about their showers," said "shower beat" reporter Nikhil Joshi, 17, who wrote three stories on the brouhaha for the Stanford Daily. "We've got hard-charging students and they're pretty intellectually sophisticated, used to doing what they can to be heard."
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Years ago, while hitchhiking around Europe, I stayed 2 nights at a youth hostel in Germany. At check-in, the manager gave me 2 shower tokens - one for each night.
The shower room was like a locker room shower room, with several shower heads on each wall. After depositing the token in the shower timer, I got 60 seconds of COLD water. There was a button to stop/start the water timer.
My first shower left me with a head full of shampoo, which I had to wash out in the free sink - cold water only. The next day, I bought an additional token from another guest, & managed to wash properly with 2 tokens. The other guy washed himself in the sink.
Since then my shower head has been a Shower Massage with the water restrictors REMOVED!
If you’re a classy green-eyed blond, never mind!
Global warming - wasting water - saving energy!
What’s your wish? Students step up and say it is all about — -— -— ME!
I’m partial to jacuzzis.
Befits my personality, n'est ce pas?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.