Senior contest winner reveals his dirty secrets

Last year, senior Matt Robinson cleaned his apartment the day before he heard about the Messiest College Apartment contest.\nHe wasn't worried: Robinson knew it wouldn't take long to duplicate his mess.\nThis year, having forgotten about the contest, Robinson saw a banner advertisement for the Apartments.com promotion.\nHe decided to enter -- his room was ready.\nMonday, Robinson was announced as the contest's winner. His mess earned him $10,000 and an offer to help clean it up. His landlord will be given a free advertising package on the apartment-services Web site.\nAt Robinson's apartment at Scholar's Rock II, 163 E. 17th St., clothes and spoiled food are strewn everywhere. A 40-ounce Slurpy cup is full of cigarette butts. The porcelain of the bathroom sink is hidden by piles of toothpaste tubes, hair gel and brushes. The furry blob in the refrigerator that looks like a pizza is a five-month-old cheesecake.\nRobinson said he hasn't cleaned his room in seven months.\n"My mess is like my roommate," Robinson said. "I just let it have its space, and finally it's pulling its own weight."\nInstead of just paying rent, the mess brought in $10,000. Robinson said he plans to get rid of his Chevette and pay back money he owes to his mother. But he's not sure if he'll accept an offer from Apartments.com to send a cleaning company to help with his apartment.\nKarrie Gottschild, Apartment.com's self-proclaimed "Mess Mistress," said Robinson was the overwhelming choice for messiest apartment.\n"It's a total niche group of people who live like this," Gottschild said. "The point is to find the worst case and give them money to clean up their act."\nGottschild, an alumna, said rooms were judged by a three-part test -- clutter level, neglect and filth.\nTim Henke, co-founder of Renaissance Rentals, the owner of Scholar's Rock, called the messiest apartment award "a dubious honor."\n"We've warned him before, and he cleaned it up," Henke said. "This go-round we learned about it shortly before the contest was over and gritted our teeth and hoped he would win and clean up immediately thereafter."\n"If you're gonna enter a contest you might as well win."\nIn its second year, the Messiest College Apartment contest drew 39 entries, and 5,600 votes were cast for three finalists. The contest was launched Feb. 1, and the deadline for entry was March 9.\nGottschild said Apartments.com holds the contest in the spring, since students' apartments aren't "ready" in the fall.\nRobinson said he was a little worried about one of his two finalist competitors, but voted for himself every day to make sure he won. Contest rules permitted one vote per person, per day. He said media interview and e-mail feedback have opened his eyes to his living environment. \n"It never occurred to me how disgusting this was until this contest," Robinson said.\nHe said he plans to return to IU next year but isn't sure where he'll live. Henke said it might be hard to find a place.\n"I don't know where he's going to go at the end of the lease," Henke said. "He might have to change his name."\nBut in his hometown of Liberty, Ind., Robinson has apparently become a celebrity.\nHe said he's heard a rumor he'll be invited to be grand marshall of the Fourth of July parade in the small southeastern Indiana town.\nThey plan to ask him to ride in a trash truck, he said.