An official university e-mail sent out Wednesday cautioning Brody Complex residents about used syringes left in the cafeteria has students confused and worried.
Although the message was sent from the complex manager’s Pilot account, university officials don’t know who wrote the e-mail. Complex manager Diane Barker, whose name appears at the bottom of the two-paragraph message, was not in her office Wednesday.
“I’m not familiar with this issue,” Barker said from her home Wednesday night. She declined to comment further.
Housing officials refused to comment on the syringes and MSU spokesman Terry Denbow said no one told him about the incident.
The e-mail, sent at about 3 p.m., said: “Brody Cafeteria staff have found used medical syringes on trays returned to the kitchen. Please dispose of medical syringes in an appropriate Sharps Container. Brody manager’s office has containers (free of charge) that we can issue you if you need them.”
The second paragraph of the e-mail addressed garbage problems in the complex.
“I got the e-mail and was like, ‘What the heck?’” Bailey Hall mentor Melissa Loomans said. “They didn’t really explain it. They should have given more detail or not have told us at all.”
Loomans, a zoology sophomore, said she thought the e-mail downplayed the syringe by also discussing trash as a problem.
“They just seemed to dismiss it,” she said.
A Brody Complex cafeteria worker said only one syringe was found and staff members dealt with it according to university policies.
Medical syringes are sometimes used for diabetic insulin shots, but cafeteria workers would not say what type of syringe was found.
Music freshman Amanda Cadger said the incident makes her question her safety in the cafeteria.
“It’s scary because it’s like there’s a bunch of junkies living in Brody,” she said. “It’s gross. You don’t know what diseases someone has.
“What if you prick yourself? You could get some crazy kind of illness.”
Housing and Food Services Assistant Vice President Chuck Gagliano said he had not heard about the e-mail. But he said such a message would violate university policy because Barker did not send it herself.
According to policy, a staff member who sends an e-mail must “make it clear to who the e-mail is coming from,” Gagliano said.
Only certain staff positions are authorized to send mass e-mails to students.
Gagliano said the university is responsible for informing students about anything that might raise concern about student safety. He said university policy calls for a worker who discovers a dangerous object - such as a syringe - to immediately report it to a supervisor. Usually, he said, that supervisor will call another campus department for help.
“If there’s something that might be more large-spread, we try to get the information out as quickly as we can,” he said. “One way of doing that is through the e-mail.”
