Studying in Grewcock Student Union is for pansies
Jack Hittinger
Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: Opinion
I watch TV. I play video games. And Lord knows, if you've ever read anything I write, I listen to music. In darker times, I've been known to do all three simultaneously.
It's not really something I'm particularly proud of - usually, it's something I do while at home on break with no other options for entertainment.
But according to the powers that be, patrons of the Grewcock Student Union better get used having non-stop fun. No studying for us. That's because the Union, supposedly, is for socializing and not studying.
Last week, I returned from break with some work still to do. It was Monday, no classes that day, so I wandered up to the Union to try and get some work done. I found some friends, and we sat there minding our own business when suddenly, we heard a college employee waddle up beside us and ask if we want to change the TV channels.
Apparently they had just installed a system to change the channels on the four televisions in AJs Café. This gentleman wanted us to try it for ourselves.
It was obvious that we were all studying and not really watching TV, but for some reason he didn't care. He wouldn't leave us alone, so we messed with it for a minute before sitting back down to study. We thought he would leave, but instead he kinda tugged at his tie and stood there for another minute.
"So…aren't you guys gonna watch TV?"
Frankly, I'm shocked. Not at the administration or the A/V department's decree that the Union is a "no-study" zone - they're higher-ups, they're supposed to do things that students hate.
No, my problem is that these people have grossly underestimated the procrastinatory nature (I just made that word up) and multi-taskability (that one too) of today's college students.
Seriously, I've seen my friends playing Mario Kart while studying for exams. I listen to music all the damn time, no matter what I'm studying. Sometimes I'll even have a baseball game on mute at the same time.
The point here is, we're in college. We have a lot better things to do than drop everything we're doing and watch television for hours. If we did that every time we came into the Grewcock Student Union, we'd all be failing.
It's not really something I'm particularly proud of - usually, it's something I do while at home on break with no other options for entertainment.
But according to the powers that be, patrons of the Grewcock Student Union better get used having non-stop fun. No studying for us. That's because the Union, supposedly, is for socializing and not studying.
Last week, I returned from break with some work still to do. It was Monday, no classes that day, so I wandered up to the Union to try and get some work done. I found some friends, and we sat there minding our own business when suddenly, we heard a college employee waddle up beside us and ask if we want to change the TV channels.
Apparently they had just installed a system to change the channels on the four televisions in AJs Café. This gentleman wanted us to try it for ourselves.
It was obvious that we were all studying and not really watching TV, but for some reason he didn't care. He wouldn't leave us alone, so we messed with it for a minute before sitting back down to study. We thought he would leave, but instead he kinda tugged at his tie and stood there for another minute.
"So…aren't you guys gonna watch TV?"
Frankly, I'm shocked. Not at the administration or the A/V department's decree that the Union is a "no-study" zone - they're higher-ups, they're supposed to do things that students hate.
No, my problem is that these people have grossly underestimated the procrastinatory nature (I just made that word up) and multi-taskability (that one too) of today's college students.
Seriously, I've seen my friends playing Mario Kart while studying for exams. I listen to music all the damn time, no matter what I'm studying. Sometimes I'll even have a baseball game on mute at the same time.
The point here is, we're in college. We have a lot better things to do than drop everything we're doing and watch television for hours. If we did that every time we came into the Grewcock Student Union, we'd all be failing.
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