A Smell in Barracks

There is a stink in Barracks, and it is not the rats, as shocking as that sounds. The Corps has been blessed with changes in administration and waste disposal. Since returning in August, an update has yet to be sent to the Corps on when the chute will be reopened. Supposedly, due to someone dropping a heavy item down the garbage chute in New Barracks, the rollers for the roller belt feeding the compactor have been severely damaged, causing the chute on all four levels to be padlocked until further notice. The administration has set up dumpsters in New and Old Barracks, those in New Barracks located by Marshall Arch, and those in Old Barracks placed around the sentinel box. Almost every morning, they are dragged out of barracks to a garbage truck waiting outside of Washington Arch. Just as the dumpsters leave a stain on the concrete, they also leave their mark outside of the arch. Foul-smelling liquid pouring from the truck and dumpsters seep into the porous asphalt, leaving a ripe stink that the Corps has to march through during breakfast and supper roll calls and class changes. Due to the constant supply of food waste in the dumpsters, there is a fruitful breeding ground for maggots to pupate into bothersome flies and other pests the Corps has to share living space with. Cadets have been dealing with this increase of bugs in barracks since August with it only slowing down due to the change in weather. With severe sickness spreading around barracks, this bug problem only heightens the comparison one can make between Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and a Parisian prison during the bubonic plague. Soon, the administration will offer two-for-one PT credits for dragging body carts out of barracks to the mass grave pit outside of town. We contacted the Board of Visitors (BOV) on October 10th and VMI Facilities management on October 11th to inquire about this issue. A BOV member has framed it as purely an administration problem, so we shall wait for their response. Soon after The Cadet made its inquiries, a crew was tasked to cleanse the rust and other waste from the old barracks courtyard with extreme prejudice. Starting on October 14th, the crew established first contact with the stains and was met with overwhelming resistance. On the 15th, groundskeepers were reinforced with pressure washers, stiff bristle brushes, and chemical cleaners to purge the unsightly stains from barracks. As of writing this, their efforts are for not. The stains persist, and they have started talking to the rat sentinel about the benefits of living in filth. Let's hope these rats do not fall for the silver-tongued lies of the stains.