Rowdy students topple union table, shatter red plastic top

By Shelby Horton

A loud crash rang out in the Parker Student Union at Hutchinson Community College on Feb. 26.

Red shards scattered on the floor, like chunks of cinnamon Christmas candy.

Those scarlet pieces were all that remained of the table top that had been mounted on a taller-than-average, shiny column, with a round, weighted base, like tables sometimes found in traditional malt shops.

It had stood a few steps from the HCC Campus Store, near the TV lounge beside the basement-level stairwell.

The incident that resulted in the breakage started simply, when a wadded-up candy wrapper was picked up and tossed.

A few students were sitting around the red table, when one playfully hurled a paperwad at another.

“My friend threw the wrapper back at me and it hit me in the mouth,” the student said.

“I was sitting down, leaning on the table, when he threw it. As I jumped up, I shoved back on the table, and it tipped over.”

Those were the events that resulted in the hard plastic top of the table to shattering on the tiled, concrete floor.

The Campus Store reported the incident. A custodian arrived to clean up the shards before they could cause any other mishaps.

Don Rose, director of facilities at HCC, was not overly broken up about it.

“Things break,” Rose said. “We understand that accidents will happen.

HCC will not be looking to replace the table with one of an identical design, but instead will be looking at other options to replace it, he said.

The new furnishing will serve the same purpose of providing students an area in which to relax before running off to their next class.

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