For most students, February 6 was just another average Thursday.  For Wickiup Hall resident Camden Hardy, however, the worst was yet to come.

While Hardy was busy and not in his room, his fellow suitemates gathered around his personal HDTV watching a popular 2002 television show Gangs of New York.  The residents were thoroughly enjoying the movie, but forty minutes into the flick suitemate Nick Keba yelled at the screen “let’s get it!” and aimlessly threw his keys directly at the television.

“Immediately after the incident, I called Cam and told him ‘hey Cam, you’re getting a free 4k TV’ without telling him his TV was broken,” says Keba.  “I just remember telling him it’ll be fine.”   From the television’s perspective, it was not fine.

The complete right side of the screen was completely useless.  A large, multicolored strip covered the right tenth of the screen, and a massive black abyss covered the remaining right half.  The TV was unusable.  If Keba missed the TV by an inch-and-a-half, the screen would have been completely fine.  Hardy soon discovered his prized possession was truly destroyed and was furious.

“For me, it was more about the sentimental value,” says Hardy. “It was the first big thing I bought with my own paycheck.  I’ve had it for years.”

In response, Keba promised a new TV of greater quality for Hardy to replace the broken machine.  COCC’s housing response on the matter is that Wickiup Hall has no responsibility over broken or stolen objects.

Currently, the old screen has been replaced by a much smaller and cheaper computer monitor owned by fellow suitemate Max Stewart.

“I thought it was pretty funny,” says Stewart in reaction to the situation.  In spite of having to live without a TV for quite some time, it seems Stewart was pleased by the outcome.

It is unsure when or if the broken television will be replaced.  For now, the residents of Hardy and Keba’s suite remain cautiously optimistic and patiently await the new HD screen Keba promised.

Toshin Rao/For The Broadside