Spring has sprung and love is in the air.
But be mindful should you chose to consummate your love in the East Wheelock, according to cluster Community Director Michael Lord.
Lord sent out a cluster-wide BlitzMail message Monday reminding students of the cluster's notoriously thin walls and urging students to more closely regulate noises coming from their room. His reminder was spurred by an alarmist Blitz from a concerned student in regard to hearing loud sex noises in his hallway.
Lord said he thought that forwarding the Blitz was a humorous way to approach the issue.
"I sent this out more in the spirit of, 'Hey this is kind of amusing but we should be aware of noise issues in general,'" Lord said.
In the forwarded Blitz, the anonymous student suggested that some East Wheelock students "do not realize that their sexual activity can be heard in great detail through the walls" and recommended that sexual activities "should probably be indulged in during reasonable hours of the day, if at all, within the confines of [East Wheelock] walls."
Additionally, the student claimed that the issue was a cluster-wide epidemic.
It is "not just a problem on my floor or in my building," the student wrote "because I have a friend on a floor in another East Wheelock building who was telling a humorous story related to similar incidents happening nightly."
The student also suggested that if Russell Sage or the Fayerweathers were options, East Wheelock students should engage in sexual activities there because those buildings have thicker, concrete walls.
South Fayerweather Undergraduate Adviser W. Lane Verlenden '06 said that he was surprised to hear that an East Wheelock cluster representative had forwarded a Blitz instructing a cadre of over 300 residents to fornicate in the Fayerweather cluster. Verlenden agreed, however, that sex noises do not present problems among his residents to the degree they do in Wheelock because of the dorm's acoustics.
It's not clear whether sexual activity in East Wheelock has increased from previous years.
"I have not heard any of these sounds myself," Lord said, "and I've only gotten one e-mail about [sex noise issues] in the five years I've been here."
However, Lord said that judging from responses -- Lord received two thank-you messages -- it was clear that the Blitz's message struck a chord with many residents.
One male junior, who wished to remain anonymous due to the subject matter, claims that his sexual activities may have prompted the concerned Blitz, and indicated that the complaint and subsequent community reminder reinforced a negative stereotype of the cluster.
"[The situation occurred] because of me and my girlfriend -- our bed is creaky," he said. "This is not as a self call; it's just a testament to how lame Wheelock kids are."
However, at least some students within the cluster are using humor to actively combat the negative image referenced by the aforementioned student.
Yesterday a group named the "The Loud Sex Society" -- whose members have yet to be identified -- hung signs in common areas throughout the cluster that mocked the content within Lord's letter.
The sign's title read in bold letters "East Wheelock Loud Sex Night: Spring 2006." The sign also included slogans such as, "Doing our part and letting you know exactly how good it feels ... how jealous are you right now?," "Go loud or go home" and "Bring your A-Game, show your O-Face."
On the whole, Lord said that issues of noises related to sexual activities permeating throughout student dormitories "is a reality of college life at this point."
Lord suggested that the simplest way to alert students making these disruptive noises is to bang on the walls to get their attention.
