Penn State students leave behind 66 tons of bargains

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Thursday, May 22, 2003 | Tom Gibb

[Willie Green]

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A Dumpster is supposed to be a colossal wastebasket. And a wastebasket is supposed to be for, well, waste.

But a few years back, Al Matyasovsky -- his Penn State University job includes tracking the trash the school coughs out -- peered over the top of a dormitory Dumpster.

[Willie Green]

Makes me wonder if the parents who paid the tuition know that the kids are tossing this stuff out.

[FourtySeven]

Hmmm......maybe it's time to take a trip up to State College this Saturday...........hehe

[AnAmericanMother]

Oh well, I guess my daughter won't be able to engage in one of my and my husband's favorite pastimes - dumpster diving at the end of the school year. The schools are gonna grab all the good stuff now that the secret's out.

This is not a recent phenomenon. You would not BELIEVE the stuff students throw out rather than carry home. I went to a private college in NJ and my husband went to a state school in GA, and it was exactly the same in both cases. I graduated in 77 and he graduated in 73.

No computers (they had barely been invented yet), but all sorts of really neat stuff. I still have a pair of hiking boots that were a perfect fit -- with the paper still in the toes. And my husband has a sodium lamp that came out of the dumpster behind the chemistry building.

[mewzilla]

Part of the problem may be due to the fact that the parents are the ones paying the tuition.

[Willie Green]

This is not a recent phenomenon.

Probably not.
I imagine this must happen at every college and university across the nation at this time of year.
Seems like a waste, but also an excellent opportunity for bargain hunters.
I figure if posting this article somehow enourages just one more school to initiate a similar end-of-year rummage-sale / flea market to benefit Goodwill Industries or whoever, then I'll have done my good deed for today. Heck, if a school has some kind of small warehouse space available, such a flea market could be set up permanently to provide recycled bargains for other students. No sense letting all that good junk go to waste!

[xyggyx]

I went to Penn State and paid my own tuition. It's great that the rich kids throw away the stuff they don't want so the non-spoiled kids can pick it up cheap.

[NEPA]

My niece graduated from Penn State this past saturday and undoubtedly contributed to the "yard sale." It took a full size SUV packed to the gills to get her there in august but to come home it only took a Pontiac Sunfire.

[Willie Green]

It took a full size SUV packed to the gills to get her there in august but to come home it only took a Pontiac Sunfire.

And that doesn't account for the other items she undoubtedly accumulated DURING the school year.

There is no doubt that moving is a pain in the butt.
Americans traditionally try to lighten the load by having a yard or garage sale before they move.
The trouble on college campuses, however, is that everybody is moving out at the same time, and nobody is moving in (at least not until those who are leaving are already gone.) All sellers and no buyers doesn't leave many options other than dumping the excess. Seems to make sense to collect the stuff at least until new arrivals appear, looking to snatch up some bargains. If the profits aren't donated to a charity, perhaps they can go to the student general activity fund.

[LanPB01]

When I graduated from law school, a buddy of mine asked me to help him move from his apartment. This guy had maxed out all his student loans, and even taken out emergency loans during the semester. Once at his apartment, I saw why. He had closets full of materials that had never had the price tag removed - kitchen utensils, clothes, snow skis (we were in Cincinnati!), and other assorted items. I used to think his spending was ridiculous, but at least he kept the things he wasted money on.

[raybbr]

Penn State should be admonished that are taking a chance on ruining our economy. How can the economy recover by re-selling used goods. We should all be buying new stuff from China, Taiwan, Mexico, etc.

Don't these people know anything.

[Aut Pax Aut Bellum]

Oh well, I guess my daughter won't be able to engage in one of my and my husband's favorite pastimes - dumpster diving at the end of the school year. The schools are gonna grab all the good stuff now that the secret's out. You think's that's fun? Hit military base dumpsters right around Oct. 1st-their new fiscal year. Lots of cool guy stuff...

[fatboy]

I attended college (a small private school in West Virginia) in the late 70s- early 80s and helped clean up the dorms after the winter semester ended for the last two years of my school experience. This was in the days when having a small refrigerator, TV (13 inch black and white) and good stereo system was considered a well appointed room.

Even back then it was amazing how much good stuff was left behind, but nothing like the things already spoken about, like skis and designer clothes. What we found were waffle irons and fry daddys, and lots of trash!

Tom

[MikeD]

Good thing it's Penn State and not Michigan State -- dumpster diving is illegal at MSU...

MD

[Richard Kimball]

Wow. My college experience was a LOT of fun, but I was broke, broke, broke. My family was working class, so my Dad paid my tuition (state school, about $200 a semester back then), and I paid everything else by working during the semester. There were rich kids at UT, no doubt, but there were also a bunch of us that lived seriously cheap.

[kitchen]

I went to Penn State and paid my own tuition.

Me too.

[AnAmericanMother]

You think's that's fun? Hit military base dumpsters right around Oct. 1st-their new fiscal year. Lots of cool guy stuff...

OOooooooo . . . I think I hear Fort McPherson calling my name . . . . :-D

[NEPA]

I went to college in the 70's.

It is a lot different now. Only the really rich kids had a TV or small fridge back then. I was happy to have a clock radio as opposed to a plain alarm clock. PC's weren't invented yet.

I'm not sure what to make of this phenomenom of giant end of semester "yard sales". I know I a lot of the stuff was probably used to begin with or were gifts the kids never really wanted. Plus, these kids are graduating and hoping to start anew. Maybe they have pie in the sky expectations but they probably figure they're going to have jobs and buy the best of everything.

My nephew graduated last august from PSU (journalism) and is working at Best Buy in Scranton(wants to work in Philly and turned down a local newspaper job offer). My niece has no job lined up (poly sci major)and wants to go to Temple law school but has no money to pay for it. Another niece (twin sister of new graduate) is still at Penn State and as a senior realized film majors (her 2nd or 3rd major) don't get real jobs. Now she's trying to get enough credits to get a degree with a possibility of a real job when she eventually graduates.

I can't criticize. My degree (University of Scranton) has largely gone wasted.

The smart one in the family is yet another niece who dropped out of college after 2 weeks and went to work part time for a Marriot hotel. They liked her and sent her to California and pay for her part time classes at UCLA and pay her more than I make for her on the job training.