RHA volunteers clean up campus

IU visitors consistently remark on the beauty of campus as one of the University's main selling points. But, often this beauty is marred with unsightly trash and litter. To combat this, the Residence Halls Association and Residential Programs and Services sponsored a spring cleaning event Saturday morning.\nVolunteers met at the center desks of Read Center and Teter and McNutt quads at noon, where they were instructed on how to handle the litter. They were told not to pick up needles, medical supplies or broken glass. The volunteers then cleaned the three residential neighborhoods for two hours and met at Teter for pizza -- a reward for a job well done.\nRHA environmental director Ryan Amtmann, a senior, said the project was a great way for RHA to clean the campus while enjoying the weather.\n"We're trying to clean the areas of campus that may be missed, like the bushes close to the buildings," he said. "This campus is so beautiful, it shouldn't be marred with trash."\nRHA philanthropy director Cassie Cook said the project has been in the works for months.\n"We began thinking about this project in January," she said. "This is a type of a trial run. We want to see what works and what doesn't so the next time we sponsor an event like this it runs more smoothly."\nCook said all residence halls were cleaned, with the exception of Foster Quad.\n"Foster was sponsoring Fosterstock today, so there was no way we would have been able to clean around the people watching the bands," she said.\nBending over to remove a candy bar wrapper from a bush, junior Tony Bontrager said he was happy to help out.\n"I am an RA, so I wanted to help clean up where I live," he said. "Also, my fraternity, Kappa Delta Rho, wanted to help with this project, so some of the brothers are here today too. Our house is involved with community service, and what better community to serve than the students"