Hitting the hurdle

Although last week I showered the school in praise, I also said there were some elements of this school which are less than par, “hitting the hurdle”, one might say.

It irks me, infuriates me, that some of these things occur in our school. I would have expected better from a prestigious institution that requires an estimated cost of attendance of over $60,000.00. And I know these things are not isolated to me: many have complained to me about these things as well. I shall list them and offer a suggestion to each.

Room Assignments: I have a philosophy class that takes place on the seventh floor of Burchard. Now, ignoring my belief that all classes should be restricted to relevant buildings (in which my class should be held somewhere in the Morton-Kiddie-Pierce Complex), it baffles me to think that my class, which holds almost 30 students, is crammed into a room designed for 20, when a room that could easily hold 60 is directly next door lies empty for the total duration of the class (and then some).

This entire process of assigning rooms during finals and during the beginning of the year could be streamlined if The Office of the Registrar found a way to involve some students in the process. Not only do we students have first-hand experience in dealing with these rooms, (knowing what kind of classes can be held where), but it would also offer an excellent opportunity for students (I am thinking Systems Engineering students,) to flex their muscles in fields potentially relevant for their future careers.

The Dining Hall: Before I go here, let me confess that I love the food at Pierce. I know I am an outlier in my own community here, but I like going to the cafeteria, hanging out with my friends, eating food, and having a good time.

What I don’t like, however, is the policies that both Sodexo and The Office of Residence Life have in place about meal plans. If you look closely, you can sort of see that the two organizations butt-heads on certain issues.

One large problem is that Freshman, with their “Unlimited Meal Plans”, are in practice limited to using the Dining Hall. The argument presented by Freshmen is that they can swipe an unlimited amount of times (they are), but Sodexo realizes that this allows for a person to swipe in, get a meal, and swipe again for a friend, effectively allowing one person’s meal plan to feed multiple individuals.

I really think the meal plan options need to be reevaluated. I would prefer a set amount of meal tickets (that aren’t restricted to meal times, please) so that, if I wanted to, I could feed two people with one ticket, but this way no one is getting the upper hand. More specifically, I would like a meal plan that allows me to enter into lunch twice.

But this is just in regards to the meal plan, I haven’t even started about messy plates (which irks me more than anything).

Websites: I have no love for any digital product of Stevens. Between our Moodle which fell apart a week ago or so, poorly coded home pages, and a Ducksync program that doesn’t even let you save a budget, I’d wager that most of the Stevens network is dilapidated and in stark need of repair. There are websites, such as the RMS Residence Life interface that still refer to Castle Point Apartments as “MS” for Married Students Housing.

There are better ways to do this. I am no Computer Science Major, but I know that there are more innovative ways to have our websites and web services.

I know for a fact that there are dozens of Comp-Sci majors just waiting for a chance to upgrade the networks of Stevens. It agitates and irks them, and they’d love to “do it right”. It would be easy too! They could incorporate it into their classes! What a novel idea.

I know I probably sound like a very privileged person, complaining how my college isn’t up to my standards, but I honestly am upset that these things happen. I don’t know why Stevens is “hitting the hurdle” but I know that we can improve. These things, if improved, would drastically improve student morale, and school spirit. I see no reason why we can’t overcome these irksome little issues.