Changes around Eastern’s Campus

Despite all of the positive changes Eastern has made this summer, some things that have changed over the past three months will now inconvenience faculty and students.

The updates made to McInnis Hall over the summer were definitely needed; the building has not been updated since the 1970s. However, the process caused a lot of offices in the building to relocate to different areas on campus. Other spaces were invaded and were left messy at the end of the summer.

In The Waltonian’s case, a sandwich from who-knows-how-long ago was left in the office’s refrigerator. It is to be expected that McInnis’ renovations would cause some chaos with those that had offices in the building. However, I think that there could have been a more organized solution to the free-for-all that came from relocating so many people.

Professors and staff members are not the only ones disrupted by the renovations to McInnis. A huge inconvenience for the student body is making the trek to the Registrar, which is now located in Fowler Hall and is completely out of the way for most students.

The limited amount of parking in the upper McInnis parking lot is another inconvenience, due to the location of dumpsters and storage containers. The lack of parking was a huge problem for commuters, as well as affecting residents and faculty. At least they were removed early in the semester.
I was extremely disappointed in the letter that I received with this year’s parking permit.

Because of additional construction that may take place on campus this year, security sent out a notice stating “students who have received resident permits may have to return their permit for a West Campus permit.” The West Campus Lot is a 10-15 minute walk from campus-with no sidewalks-it is also a dangerous place to park. Last year, security sent out an e-mail stating that a student was robbed in the West Lot.

Security stated that shuttles are provided to transport students safely there and back. However, I know I am not alone when I say that calling security for a ride usually involves a long wait, which can be frustrating when students have places to go. If a student has already paid to park on campus, they should be able to maintain that permit.

Lastly, there will be a lot of backlash for the new printing system installed this semester. I understand that we use a lot of paper here at Eastern, but most of the time, it is necessary and we will need well over the 50 pages we are given. There are many students that have 5-10 page papers due every week or so.

It will also be an issue to go through the process of printing at the new machines, which require a verification code in order to print. The process will take up a lot of time for students.
There are other ways to control the amount of paper for printing. These solutions could include encouraging printing only necessary pages, recycling and using scrap paper for other needs.

I appreciate the new renovations being made to Eastern; the updated McInnis is beautiful and I love getting to use my E-Card off campus. However, it seems to me that there are a lot of negatives coming from seemingly good ideas. I don’t believe that these renovations balance out.