PUBLISHED: 09-08-08

Editor’s Note

Heat causes tempers to rise

Along with many returning students, I’ve always dreaded going to class in the South Campus Building, 624 S. Michigan Ave. Aside from the never-ending drama with overcrowding in the lobby of the building and the elevators, classrooms have become increasingly cramped and uncomfortable, and temperatures from classroom to classroom are usually on the extreme side-either freezing or stiflingly hot.

I’ve always managed to deal with the elevators-tip: Allow enough time to wait about five minutes-and I usually prepare for the extreme temps by layering, but during the first week of classes, my (and many others’) patience with the detested building finally wore thin.

After booking it to my classes in the disgusting heat, I was greeted by a crowd that extended through the lobby and the foyer of the building waiting for the elevators. I was a little taken aback, as I had never seen a crowd this large in the lobby. “Fair enough,” I thought; I should have arrived earlier to avoid this.

I waited patiently, although I saw students pushing past others who had been waiting their turn and standing directly in front of the elevators. Another tip: To get into the elevator, you first need to let the people in it, out.

Once I got inside the “even” elevator, a few students aggressively tried pushing odd-numbered floors. They grumbled about how stupid it was to have even and odd elevators; I couldn’t help but educate them on how much worse it was before the change had been made in 2007.

I finally made it to my floor and fell out of the crowded elevator, anticipating a cool, air-conditioned classroom. The lobby and elevators were steamy, but I chalked it up to the sweaty bodies inhabiting them. I was disappointed to find that my particular classroom was warmer than the lobby and without any form of a breeze like there was outside.

Twenty minutes later, I was sitting practically shoulder-to-shoulder with my classmates, soaking in my own sweat. The room reeked of body odor, and everyone looked exhausted from the unrelenting heat. We were fanning ourselves with our syllabi, constantly wiping the sweat from our brows and all thinking the same thing: “Wow, it’s really hot in here.”

I’ll admit that I’m a wimp when it comes to high temps, but this was outrageous. I didn’t have a water bottle or any cash with me to go to the vending machine, and getting up every 10 minutes to get a drink from the water fountain required the hassle of climbing over my desk in the packed classroom. I developed a headache and drifted off to sleep at my desk from the heat. My teacher could tell our minds were wandering and reminded us before the break to go get hydrated. I felt like leaping over my desk and jumping down the stairs just to get outside for some air that much faster.

Thankfully, nobody passed out, as that would have been a huge downer in the first week of class. A few Chronicle co-workers said their classrooms weren’t bad, but I had class in the building Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning, and the conditions didn’t really improve much until Thursday morning.

Of course buildings as old as some of those on Columbia’s campus are going to have maintenance issues from time to time, particularly during the first week of classes. But it shouldn’t take two or three days to work on the issue-especially when a few fans in the classrooms could have at least alleviated the heat. And the fact that we’re trying to pack 30-plus students into a classroom built for 20 doesn’t help the situation.

To give a little credit, Columbia administrators know the South Campus Building has its issues and that we’re quickly outgrowing our space in the South Loop. They say they’re reportedly working on long-term fixes for these trouble spots, but hopefully they realize that students need a solution right now.

Maybe the South Campus Building will eventually be a tolerable learning environment. But for right now, as the lobby crowds, class rosters increase and temperatures in classrooms rise, the patience of students-especially this one-is evaporating.

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