Homeless seek shelter in campus buildings

With half a foot of snow on the ground, below zero temperatures and no place to call home, IU's homeless population is left with few options during the winter. IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger said that means trespassing in open campus facilities.\nMinger said the Main Library and the Indiana Memorial Union are the main places on campus where homeless people seek shelter.\n"The campus has to be accessible to students," Minger said. "(That means open) libraries, lounges and stairwells. (Homeless people) want to get locked into buildings to have shelter."\nThe Main Library's Head of Information Commons and Undergraduate Services Carolyn Walters said there aren't many disturbances with suspicious-looking people during the daytime, when the library is a public building and open to everyone.\n"Anyone can walk into our library during our regular hours of operation," Walters said.\nBut between midnight and 8 a.m., the library closes and only the Information Commons and main lobby are kept open. During these hours, the open section of the library is only for University-affiliated individuals.\nAccording to the Information Commons policies, midnight to 8 a.m. use of the Information Commons is strictly for IU faculty, staff and students. Any individual who cannot present a valid IU photo ID or proof of official affiliation with IU upon request, will be asked to leave. The Information Commons policy also states sleeping and offensive bodily hygiene resulting in complaints are not permitted in the Information Commons.\nSuspicious-looking people have also been found outside of the Main Library and Indiana Memorial Union.\n"We also have found people at the HPER building trying to clean up in the shower rooms," Minger said.\nNot all people who try to hide out in campus buildings are homeless, Minger said. Many times these shelter seekers are anything but, he added.\n"It's not that they are homeless -- they are just suspicious-looking people who don't seem to be IU students, faculty or staff," Minger said. "They are usually walk-aways from mental institutions, hitchhikers or people without family or friends in town."\nSenior Dave Wright, a member of the Chi Phi fraternity, had a run-in with a homeless person outside the house. Wright said he was with a girl when a suspicious-looking man walked onto the property and began talking with slurred speech.\n"His eyes were wandering and he looked unkempt," Wright said. "His speech was slurred and I assumed he was drunk."\nBeing careful, Wright said he knew something bad could arise from the situation and took measures into his own hands.\n"I was cautious when he walked up to the house, so I took the girl I was with inside and got some of my brothers to come back outside with me because I didn't know what his motives were," Wright said.\nWhen Wright returned with his brothers, the man on the porch asked the brothers for some money.\n"He just wanted money for bus fare," Wright said.\nMinger said he understands wandering people looking for shelter are not always the best of situations.\n"It doesn't conform to the academic environment that would best suit students," Minger said. "Having homeless people occupy buildings is not something that the buildings are used for. The facilities are for those who have invested interest in the property, and if they look suspicious, they shouldn't be on the property."\n-- Contact staff writer Janet Nguyen at janguyen@indiana.edu.