Here at the College, picking rooms has caused a hysteria that has literally taken over any and all campus discussions. It seems like every conversation since the Housing Lottery has involved "New Res or Decker?" or "I can't believe I have to live in Centennial."
I walked into the Travers/Wolfe lounge Monday, March 26th, to see the last of the day's girls sign up for what would be their residences for the following semester, and listening to scores of complaints really earned my empathy. I drew No. 54 in the lottery so I felt lucky, but the unfortunate lack of dumb luck that so many students here have been "graced" with really got me thinking.
Call it idealism or an unnecessary preoccupation with the "perfect world" utopia we all seem to apply to any circumstance, but I have to agree with the disgruntled "losers" of the lottery.
What I can't seem to understand, by any means, is why certain residence halls have become "the place to be." Others seem to be left for the unlucky kids on campus, whose randomly assigned numbers weren't good enough to get them air conditioning and carpeting or the social scene and adjacent parking lot.
Why can't all of the residence halls have their own pros and cons that don't overwhelmingly outweigh each other? I understand that this school is broke and that the issue may be caused by corrupt government officials who don't give us money, but it seems like this campus doesn't really spend that much money on its students.
What I'm suggesting is that the people who can influence and call for certain campus renovations do the students a favor (students who, by the way, pay administrators' salaries and have earned this institution the prestige it now boasts). Don't let the lottery control the comfort of students, especially when they have no influence over the outcome.
Make all of the campus dwellings the earlier referenced "place to be," so that whether you're given No. 1 or No. 501 we can actually look forward to hauling countless pounds of luggage up endless flights of stairs, knowing that once we're done we've got a great time ahead of us.
Maybe each hall should have been constructed to house more students; either way what's done is done. Since residence halls are located where they are and that can't change, maybe College officials should spend money on building an outdoor swimming pool by Norsworthy, or throwing dance parties in ABE's lounge.
I'm not trying to implicate that any radical or ludicrous changes should be made because students that aren't living in Decker or New Res are emotionally unstable and unsafe to themselves and others.
I just would like to see everyone be able to look forward to every aspect of each year of his or her ultimately short college experience, because once it's gone, it's gone. All I'm saying is that those who can make change should try.
