Conventional wisdom often dictates that when you have high expectations for something, more often than not you wind up disappointed.
Early last semester I was notified that there would be a new Bingham building built in Newing College, and I was overcome with excitement at the opportunity of living in a new building. I was certain that the new building would offer many great amenities that would far surpass any of the ones offered in the older building, which was built in the mid-1960s. Although I have only been living in the new Bingham building for a week, I believe conventional wisdom has held up: I am disappointed.
In defense of ResLife, I must point out that they did graciously grant all residents of the new building a $200 rebate for inconveniences faced. While this may serve as some level of appeasement, I must say that they completely missed the point.
The problem lies in the building’s distance from dining areas, the bathroom setup and the lack of an academic environment.
To be perfectly honest, I liked — no, loved — the idea of literally walking 10 feet from my building and being able to get food. Call me lazy, but being able to get some type of food from 7 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. (if you include Night Owls) without having to walk that far was truly convenient. With the destruction of the Newing Dining Hall due to new residential plans, the closest dining halls are College-in-the-Woods and Dickinson. If you’re looking for quality, the only close ones are really Appalachian and Hinman, which seem miles away.
The bathroom setup of the new building, which is very similar to that of suite-style buildings, also causes some aggravation. Four rooms share a bathroom and a shower, each of which is only accessible by its respective residents. The problem is that, like in suite-style buildings, no garbage cans, paper towels, towel racks or soap are provided. We were never informed that these things would be missing, which is strange because Newing had always been set up in corridor-style and provided these essentials for its residents.
To make things worse, the bathrooms here are only cleaned once a week, as opposed to the five times a week of the past. If I wanted this setup I would’ve chosen to live in Mountainview or Hinman, but certainly not Newing. I value cleanliness over greater privacy when it comes to bathrooms.
The lack of light in the rooms and unfinished common rooms have also made it difficult to get any type of work done. There is only one lamp in the room and no skylights are installed, which eliminates any real ability to do schoolwork at night. Moreover, many of the common rooms are still being refurbished, taking away yet another area that was often used for homework and studying.
Now, when it’s 1 a.m. and you still haven’t completed an assignment due for a morning class, you are forced to schlep all the way to the library.
I believe Alexander Pope, a famous 18th-century poet, put it best when he said, “Blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” Maybe next time I’ll take Pope’s advice, because as it is now, I can predict only many long ventures for food, many long trips to the library and many nights sitting in the dark.