Lately, some Temple students may feel a little abandoned by their alma mater. They are now finding out that many of the services and policies that they have come to appreciate and rely on are being taken away from them.
From something simple like smoking in a place out of the winter weather, to the ever-controversial housing issue, Temple has considered or actually enacted a number of policies that are less than student-friendly. While some are minor, others have actually resulted in student protest.
One of the most visible changes on Main Campus is the newly-posted signs outside of Anderson and Gladfelter Halls warning students that crave a nicotine fix to keep their distance. While I am not now, nor have I ever been a smoker, I am sympathetic to the situation they are in. Smokers are now forced to smoke out in the open in the dead of winter.
Smokers are people too, after all. They’ve already been prohibited from smoking indoors, and I’ve never noticed an overpowering stench inside the lobbies. Most of the entrances smokers dwell near have two sets of doors anyway, which should serve as a good barrier for traveling for smoke.
Another new policy which has left students out in the cold is the housing issue that keeps rearing its ugly head. Students walking around campus may have seen the crowd of marching students calling for a solution to the housing problem. Marchers were reacting to the new campus housing policy, banning current sophomores and juniors from participating in the dorm lottery.
Current and incoming freshmen now get the first shot, while upperclassmen get to fend for themselves in the search for off-campus apartments. Housing problems were enough of an issue already, and although new facilities are being built to accommodate the size of the student body, the arrival of the entire Tyler School of Art in a few years is only going to add to the number of those who need a home.
However, this is not even where the bad judgement in policies end. Temple has almost forsaken its own teachers as well. While administration officials denied that anyone was going to be let go, teachers who earned their highest degree at Temple were told that by next fall they were going to have to look for work elsewhere. After the story broke in The Temple News, students began to get behind their beloved professors and the new policy seemed to disappear.
With all this taking place within the last few months, it’s hard to understand what these policymakers are thinking. Temple students, both past and present, have repeatedly been pushed to deal with more inconveniences.
Whose best interest do they have in mind, if not the students? From punitive smoking policies to being
Forced out of housing to threatening the jobs of professors, Temple students must be wondering how much their university cares about them.
Torin Sweeney can be reached at foreverlong7283@yahoo.com.
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