Library lavatory sex a no-no

Charles C. Labenz Arizona Daily Wildcat The UA Main Library posted signs like these on the outside walls of the men's restrooms. These signs are not posted in or around the women's restrooms.

Past complaints of solicitation and people having sex in the bathroom prompted library officials to post signs inside the Main Library men's lavatories, stating that "it is inappropriate and illegal to use university restrooms for sexual activities or solicitation."

The 8-by-10-inch, blue plastic signs are now posted outside of the bathrooms on the right side of the doors.

Library supervisor Marlene Alegria said that the signs have been in the bathroom for years, but they didn't last, and officials were continually having to replace them.

"It's (the sign has) been there all the time, but they just moved it outside because people kept tearing it off," she said.

Sure enough, the signs posted outside of the second- and fourth-floor men's restrooms were missing from the walls yesterday, with only some glue and a scar of ripped paint and drywall left behind.

Inside the men's bathroom stalls, next to the usual "man from Nantucket" limericks hastily scribbled on the wall, is where the sexual solicitations are being communicated.

University police Cmdr. Brian Seastone said there have been no arrests in the past year for sexual incidents in the library bathrooms, but there have been complaints to police about sex acts and solicitation.

Seastone added that the complaints all stem from homosexual sex acts and solicitation in the men's restrooms.

The library does not post similar warnings in or around the women's restrooms, he said.

Seastone said if police respond to the complaints and find nobody engaged in the act, the incident is cleared as suspicious activity. If caught, involved parties could be charged with sexual misconduct and other offenses, he said.