Opinion: How construction around campus affects students

Chain+link+fencing+surrounds+construction+equipment+between+Milam+Hall+and+Gilkey+Hall+on+Oregon+State+University+campus+on+Oct.+21.+Usually+this+space+is+full+of+people%2C+but+now+students+and+faculty+file+through+the+space+around+one+edge+of+the+enclosure.%0A

Alex Ozeran

Chain link fencing surrounds construction equipment between Milam Hall and Gilkey Hall on Oregon State University campus on Oct. 21. Usually this space is full of people, but now students and faculty file through the space around one edge of the enclosure.

Editor’s Note: This column does not represent the opinion of The Daily Barometer. This column reflects the personal opinions of the writer.

Construction around campus has impacted students in many ways, the most relevant being the temporary dome located at the Memorial Union Quad. 

Imagine this: you have a class in 10 minutes in Milam Hall which is right across the Memorial Union, but you just got your lunch from the MU, so in order to not be late you decide to run across the quad. When you get there, you see a construction site that forces you to take a detour which may cost you to be late to class. 

This has been the experience of many students including myself, while the construction around campus is necessary for college operations and its development, it is apparent that accommodations haven’t been taken in order to minimize the impact that they have on students and their daily routine.

Furthermore, routes commonly used by students to get to their classes in buildings around the MU have been partially or totally blocked. This may sound as a small inconvenience to some, but when it is raining, and you are running late from working in the MU or the Student Experience Center to your class, this can add a good amount of stress to an already busy student.

“I used to sit in front of the MU but I couldn’t because there was a lot of construction noises for the past two weeks and there is also just the inconvenience of walking around it instead of cutting through the quad,” said Pela Napoleon, a junior student majoring in Geography.

Napoleon usually studies outside the MU and has to walk around the construction site in order to get to classes.

In the proximity of the MU one can also find Bianca Hansen, a senior Mechanical and Humanitarian engineering student that despite the rainy day is laboriously typing on her laptop.

“I wanted to go into the MU today to study, but just because of the construction, it was a minute of extra walking that I didn’t want to do in the rain,” Hansen said.

Hansen usually studies inside the MU, but the construction has led her to choosing to stay outside, typing in the rain.

“It makes it more difficult to get to classes, sometimes I am running a little bit late and I need to take a little bit longer or an extra route in order to get there,” Hansen said. 

The construction around campus, especially the sites near the MU, have impacted how students move around campus and get to classes. So if you have a class in the vicinity of the MU or other construction sites it would be a good idea to plan ahead and leave 5-15 minutes early to prevent any inconvenience.

While construction around campus could be considered not more than a mere inconvenience; It still impacts students’ time and mental health. For this reason having additional safe routes to circumvent said construction sites would help students to avoid significant detours that could be very costly to some.

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