Dressed in black pants and a gray shirt, a middle-aged man with his dufflebag roamed the second floor of Mendocino Hall late one Tuesday night. Passing the men’s room twice, he finally entered.

Just shortly after, another man passed by the same men’s room several times before entering as well.

While inside, there were sounds of shuffling feet behind a stall door – but only one pair of shoes was seen.

It wasn’t until 15 minutes later that both men exited the restroom drenched in their own sweat and proceeded again to wander the halls.

This scenario is not uncommon for Mendocino Hall. For the past four to five years, the building has become a haven for homosexual activity, according to Sac State Investigator John Hamrick. Vacant offices in the evening may be the reason why the men are attracted to the bathrooms where professors have left for the day and few classes are in session.

Since January 2000, three bathroom incidents have been reported to campus police. In early February, one man was reported entering the second floor restroom and engaging in homosexual activity.

Another occurrence was reported on the evening of September 20, 2000, where the sexual activity began in the fifth-floor bathroom, but ended in the bathroom on the third-floor. A month later, two men were also reported to have engaged in homosexual affairs in the same restroom.

Hamrick said that campus police officers do make routine checks during the day and night, but can’t keep a full watch on the restrooms. “It makes it difficult for us to do our job,” he said.

At least a half-dozen people have been stopped by campus police because of suspicious activity near the bathrooms. There have also been complaints from campus maintenance officials who have had to clean up used condoms and wipe down bodily fluids off the walls. In addition, “glory holes,” which are commonly used for sexual favors, have been drilled in the stall walls.

The common solution to stem the tide of bathroom activity has been to cover the holes with metal plates or replace the stall walls entirely.

But, the behavior still persists with restroom walls being decorated with sexual solicitations. Acting as a homosexual billboard, the messages will have a date and time inviting future engagements.

“I feel freaky when I have to use the men’s bathroom,” said junior Matt Dawson, who has two classes in Mendocino Hall. Dawson said that sometimes when he uses the Mendocino bathrooms he finds used condoms on the floor.

Freshman Mike Ceagan is still afraid to use the restrooms after he witnessed two men engaging in sexual activity in a handicap stall. During the same visit he also saw two holes in the stall walls and pictures of explicit genitalia.

While an effort is being made by campus police to prevent the sexual encounters, so far, no one has been arrested for soliciting or engaging in homosexual activity in the restrooms, according to Campus Police Chief Ken Barnett. That’s why it’s not known if the participants are Sac State students or people outside the campus.

“For a period of time we’ve been doing directed patrols,” said Barnett. “We’ll walk the halls and check out the bathrooms for any suspicious activity.”

The police will also pay attention to any Web sites that invite homosexual activity in the campus restrooms. Barnett said there was a Web site they tracked for information before it disappeared.

But even with limited patrolling, there’s nothing much more the campus police are doing to halt the behavior short of bathroom surveillance. However, the process of setting up and operating a camera system would be “labor intensive and require the approval of the Sacramento District Attorney,” Barnett said.

“We would be required by law to have live, video-surveillance of the bathrooms. But with 10 to15 hours a day, that can be hard,” Barnett said. “We’d have to have some discussions, especially about issues of privacy.”

So, with no plans in development to strictly monitor the restrooms, police are relying upon eyewitness accounts.

“We need people to report any problems immediately,” said Barnett. “We need a collaborative effort within the campus.

After all, 25,000 eyes are better than 15.”

Anyone who notices suspicious activity in the bathrooms is asked to call the campus police from any red-campus phone.

Jessica Swain, Rosanne Dinelli, and Stephanie Chernay contributed to this report.