Contruction closures
The announcement that starting this month, the stretch of road between Atlantic Drive and Fourth Street will be closed, initially should not be viewed as an unnecessary inconvenience. The Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons promises to be a state-of-the-art facility, and while drivers may find the closures bothersome, the six-month wait is worth the project at hand. However, given Tech’s history with construction projects, some warning is due. Residents of the North Avenue Apartments still complain of loud construction in the mornings, despite announcements that drilling would stop, and many drivers have noticed that the parking lot by the library has been fenced off since the beginning of the semester—despite no signs of construction. Tech should make sure to stick to its announced schedule and not draw out the inconvenience.
Ads on T-Square
For the first time, the main page for T-Square was used to display an advertisement for a campus event. While Inventure is a fun competition appealing to many students, by making T-Square’s main page a venue for advertisements, a new precedent is established that risks misusing an official source of communication to flood students with information they do not need or want (much like the mega mods spaming student inboxes do), as campus organizations request to advertise in this highly visible spot. If the main page for T-Square could so easily be edited, Tech should have made a real improvement by placing the log-in box in the place of this advertisement. This latest move indicates that Tech is in need of an established policy for campus communication.
Newspaper numbers
The College Readership Program has become a staple around campus, making 1,300 issues of three newspapers available to students each day. However, we have increasingly noticed that by the middle of the day newsstands are empty, suggesting that readership is outpacing the number of newspapers being offered. The recent decision to increase the number of distribution points does not seem to be the best solution to the problem since the circulation rate will remain the same. Further, the proposed idea to make Junior’s Grill a new point of distribution in addition to the D.M. Smith Building does not make much sense as the two are only a few yards away. A more thoughtful evaluation of the program is needed to ensure that all students can stay informed.