The Inside Scoop

Georgia College & State University is one of the fastest growing universities in the University System of Georgia. We, just two years ago, achieved tier 2 status making us an equal with other schools such as Georgia Southern. With all this going on, our school is growing in numbers as well as standards, and with all these growths comes change.

Now, people who are new to whatever is being changed usually see change as a good thing, but change is not always a good thing. For example, some would see the closing of the gate for the residence halls as a good thing, and some see it as an unnecessary nuisance. Whether or not you like of dislike the closing of the gate, some people welcome change and some people shun it. For example, take the removing of the ramp outside of Crossroads. Most people I know of liked the removing of the ramp, but some argued that it was a part of the campus and that it would change the look of our campus. It all depends on people’s perspectives. When it comes to changes to the appearance of the campus, there have been many changes over the past few years.
The whole front lawn was renovated and the sidewalks repaved recently, new emergency call beacons have been strategically placed around campus, and even larger things such as the construction of the new library and the changing of the Clark St. side of MSU are taking place.

Our campus is changing, and things on our campus are growing and redefining themselves. But is change always good? If we just change everything, then will we still be the same university as we used to be? Where is the point when Georgia College & State University becomes something different? What would somebody who has not seen the college in several years say if they came back? Would they be pleased, or would they be confused and wonder why so many things have changed? Why was it necessary to change these things? Is it because the old things represented a time in the university’s history that is not a part of our future? Or is it because we just didn’t like them?

These questions bring up a whole new issue, mainly when somebody doesn’t like a change who decides that it gets reversed. For example, all students I have spoken to universally dislike the closing of the gate between Sanford and Napier. There has not been a single student that has commented on there being less noise, or less anything, just more hassles. But what would it take for a decision such as this to be reversed? With the decision being made by public safety for mainly noise and disturbance reasons, for what reasons should they consider reversing it? If the administrators who came up with the change don’t have to deal with the decision what would be their motivation to reverse it? I write these things only because lately I have heard dissent among students who vehemently hope that this “inconvenience to them” will be done away with.

But should students even bother starting this fight, I ask, not because I don’t think it is legitimate, but because I think that the powers that created this rule will not likely reverse it. The question I pose to you as a reader of this paper is who decides when something gets changed at GC&SU, and why do they get to decide? I think that is something we all need to consider when it comes to issues such as the gate, smoking on the breezeways at Napier, or the call boxes all over campus, is why make these decisions, and who will they ultimately affect?

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 28 2001. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry