Bathroom visitors now can be forewarned of foul smells before they enter the facility, thanks to a recent invention by a Northwestern graduate.

The Stench-O-Meter, pronounced like “thermometer,” is a magnetic board hung outside bathroom doors and stalls on which people can post “personal stench accomplishments,” according to the product’s inventor, Jason Akel, Communication ’96.

Eight illustrated “Fart Cards” hang on the board and indicate the level of “stench” in the bathroom. One card reads: “Quarantine: I have contaminated the area. Evacuate now. Fall back outside the perimeter. Your life is in danger.”

The cards can be hooked onto the toilet-paper dispenser for convenience, Akel said.

“While you’re sitting on the john, you can browse through the cards, preparing your message for the next visitor,” he said.

The Stench-O-Meter also includes more than 75 magnetic “Fart Words” to personalize a message. Since entering the market in December, hundreds of Stench-O-Meters have sold at the price of $14.99 on Akel’s Web site, http://www.stenchometer.com.

Akel said he spent three years developing the Stench-O-Meter and credits his wife with the inspiration.

“I would have to post the worst stench possible to describe the smell she (once) left for me,” he said.

Akel said during his days at NU he wished he had a Stench-o-Meter to avoid bad smells in residence hall bathrooms.

“I should have had a Stench-O-Meter to warn dormmates, especially when I was living in South Mid-Quads,” he said. “You really need one in every stall.”

Weinberg freshman Isaac Brown said he would consider purchasing the Stench-O-Meter for some of his dormmates in Allison Hall.

“It would be a good gag gift,” he said. “I can name four or five people in my hall I would maybe buy it for.”

But some NU students said they would be ambivalent about using the Stench-O-Meter.

“I think (the Stench-O-Meter’s) kind of weird,” said Courtney O’Brien, an Education freshman. “I think if you really have to go to the bathroom, you’ll go in regardless.”

Mathias Muschal, editor of Willard Residential College’s bathroom newsletter, “Conshitter This,” said he would avoid using a Stench-O-Meter because it would take away the element of surprise when entering the room.

“I would not use it,” Muschal said, “because there is more fun in letting people discover my presents on their own.”