McKeldin, My McKeldin

It's almost like they knew this was going to happen... DBK is absolutely right in their staff editorial. We know funds are tight - they're tight for everything. But we need to fund our libraries, and part of that is infrastructure (a topic not addressed in the staff ed). While the article points out that this was a result of actually doing work on the building, the point remains, as FM had to stop work due to lacking parts.

This lack of funding does not only result in fewer hard copy and electronic collections, but the loss of our current collections due to faulty ceilings. Residence halls aren't the only buildings on campus that need renovations. Just ask a BSOS major.

Matt Graves offers some reactions to the staff ed. I, too, must confess ignorance at the way our libraries are funded in their totality. If it's anything like other non-self-support departments on campus (some self-supports include DRL, DDS, DRF), then funding comes from a multitude of places - auxiliary student fees, tuition, redirected cost containment funds, private funders, budgeted and dedicated state funding, etcetera. I have to disagree with Graves on a key point, though.

His idea that department/college-specific journals should be paid for only by those colleges is another great ideology versus practice problem. It sounds good, right, to let (force) only the people who use the service to purchase it? It is good, I will concede, in an absolute world. But in a University setting, we subsidize one another for the good of the whole. It's a bummer, but it's a reality: it costs way more to produce a wind tunnel than a long-winded history professor, and I'm getting no discounts spending my time in Key instead.

(Cost containment is, of course, a different issue.)

Ultimately, both the DBK and Graves are right, if you make the connection: we need more money. Frankly, students are paying more than they can currently afford for college, and nationally I worry we're rapidly approaching a point that will make the "opportunity cost/it'll be worth it after you graduate" argument not quite as persuasive, especially to lower-income students.

My recommendation would be to spend a lot of time and effort lobbying in Annapolis for more money, cliche as it sounds. Add this library incident to the list of things about which you'll testify.

Update: See Tim Hackman's addendum to the DBK's editorial

Posted by: Sumner Handy, President

Renovations

More renovations in the works. I also hear that Shoemaker is looking for renovations in 2009-2010. And the residence halls?

System, Please Hear Us

Oh, sweet farce. Gina Sagar says what many are thinking.

President Mote and University administration have clearly done a remarkable job at improving the quality of education here in the last decade and change, or so (no. 54 in 2008, according to US News). They should be applauded.

And the Fridge has taken our boys to a bunch of bowls this century and has been rewarded with a few few-million-dollar renovations to Byrd. The Athletics Department is quick to point out that the renovation will pay for itself, however. That does provide some comfort.

But while System was approving the loan for non-essential athletics improvements, Denton's pipes were a ticking time bomb. And maybe President Mote didn't know, but with the fantastic academic improvements he was attracting the nation's most promising students to a place that would likely not satisfy their desire for a high quality of life.

Resident students are tired of hearing about the housing crisis and about all the as-yet unfulfilled promises. When will System feel the urgency with which we feel this crisis? There is not enough housing here and lots of the housing we've got is leaking and hot and cold and crowded.

We, the students, do not only urge approval of the projects to come before System in the coming months and years... but we ask, with hope and with humility, to have our voice heard and our needs met, to have our university improved with new beds and renovation of the buildings around those already in existence.

System approves new housing projects based on a principle of taking turns, yielding priority in building new housing in places like Towson (click on West Village Housing Construction - Updates), while the demand in College Park outstrips that of almost anywhere. This is the wrong way to operate. In practice, goods should be delivered where the demand is highest. We need housing here in College Park!

Update: I sent a link to this post specifically and one to the blog in general to System today at 12:26PM.

Posted by: Sumner Handy, President

"Lemme Upgrade Ya" - Beyonce, on Denton Hall Toilets

One has to wonder, would this be happening if the University didn't have to continually delay residence hall renovations?

"I blacked out and woke up in f---in' Finding Nemo," said one resident who did not provide his name.

Posted By: Sumner Handy, President