Sharp edges cause mirror removal in Eigenmann

With two years of remodeling finally finished at Eigenmann Hall, nobody would think something like dorm room mirrors could cause such a hassle.\nHowever, since the beginning of this school year, about two dozen people have reported cutting themselves on the mirrors, said Tim Bagwell, assistant residence manager of Eigenmann Hall. \n"It became a safety issue," Bagwell said. "We were aware of it. It's been a problem and we knew we needed to get it fixed."\nWork was started on Monday, Oct. 13 and spanned over a two-week period that ended Wednesday. \nStudents and custodians have complained of injuries and safety issues attributed to the mirrors located on the inside of dorm room closets.\n"My roommate got cut five times," said Erin Wills, freshman and Eigenmann resident. "She would open up the closet and slice her fingers on the edge of it."\nThis seemed to be the common theme within the dorm, leaving approximately 900 rooms targets for student injury.\n"One of my roommate's friends from class was cut so bad she had to get butterfly stitches at the Health Center," said Julie Wagner, freshman and Eigenmann resident. "My roommate did (get cut) once the first week we were here. It was actually bleeding for a long time."\nAfter multiple cuts were reported, the mirrors were eventually replaced.\n"This became obvious to us; it was a manufacturing problem," Bagwell said. "Our concern was that it be fixed and it be done quickly, without any disruption to the students."\nDue to extensive remodeling to the entire building, virtually every room's mirror had to be fixed. A crew out of Michigan was brought in to sand down all four corners of every dorm room mirror in Eigenmann.\n"Ours were fixed the very first day at 2 p.m.," Wagner said. "It was nice they didn't wake us up." \nThey experimented with how much edge to sand off the mirrors, giving their work back to dorm officials who sent the product back one more time for more changes.\n"The first time they didn't get them safe enough," said Bagwell. "The second time they got it right."\nThe company that sold IU the mirrors replaced the items free of charge.\n-- Contact staff writer Nicholas J. Schmidt at nschmidt@indiana.edu.