by The Cowl Editor on October 7, 2021
Opinion
by Christina Charie ’25
Opinion Staff
Those who attended the Homecoming festivities this past weekend understand the difficulties of navigating Providence College by car. Parking lots quickly fill while numerous drivers opt for parking tickets on Providence streets. CVS and Target are highly inaccessible for those without a car. After recent public safety announcements, many students might have concerns about walking to these locations. Decreasing the need to walk to off campus locations would put students at ease.
The College has multiple options regarding the transportation issue. With the rising cost of Uber and the unreliability of the RIPTA, offering a student shuttle run by the College on a regular basis would be incredibly helpful for those without cars. Thayer Street, Providence Place, and CVS would be excellent locations for students to get takeout food, necessities, and hang out with friends. Keeping PC students together on the shuttles helps to ensure safety by eliminating the time students potentially travel alone.
The second response to the issue would be to increase the amount of parking available on campus. Huxley Avenue has become difficult to traverse, with cars parking up to the stop sign near Admiral Street. If seniors who live off-campus take their car to reduce walking time, a parking space should be available for them. Parking on Huxley has created a hazard for other drivers. The campus has beautiful green spaces. Some of the least utilized areas could make excellent parking lots. Additionally, the current commuter garage at Anderson stadium is only two levels, with the tennis courts on top. Relocating the tennis courts and adding more levels of parking could also alleviate the strain.
Nevertheless, PC must do more to increase transportation and parking options on-campus.
by Erin Garvey ’22
Opinion Staff
Imagine you stayed up late studying or doing work, and when you finally go to sleep, you are woken up only a few hours later to a leaf blower right outside your window. While some may be able to continue sleeping with this disruption, the majority of students on campus will find they have no choice but to get the day started.
During the week, we all would like to take advantage of a few extra minutes of sleep before we need to get up and start the day. However, when we find that we are woken earlier than necessary because of lawnmowers, leaf blowers, and other gardening tools, it can be frustrating.
On a college campus where sleep and education are placed as the highest priority, landscapers should not be allowed to start until at least 10 a.m. This might seem late, but in reality it would allow for the majority of students on campus to ensure restful sleep without being disturbed earlier than necessary.
If sleep production goes down, so will grades, involvement, and other tasks that students are responsible for, which the College thrives and depends.
While, yes, it is important to keep the campus looking its best, it is also important to ensure that the students and their well-being are being considered at all times.
by Jezel Tracey ’24
Opinion Staff
Have you ever been charged for printing 30-plus pages for class and only received two sheets: one being the title page and the other saying “error”? Well, me too!
At times, it is hard to finish a large number of readings from a computer. Instead, it might be easier to follow along if those documents are printed. However, this becomes frustrating when one is constantly stricken with the fear that their printing balance will be lowered each time they print something.
What makes this anxiety even worse is when one is charged for documents that were not able to be printed. Often, when this situation happens, it is assumed that the money will be restored into the account, and this is where the problem lies.
Depending on one’s major, readings are assigned for almost every class, and some students rely on printing hard copies of those readings. Due to this reliance, the printing system should be treated with an equal amount of importance.
While you can be refunded for printing errors at the HelpDesk in the library, the process of doing so is a bit tedious. Especially on the occasions of last-minute printing, this process will be an inconvenience.
Simply receiving a warning about an error or being refunded through a faster method would make printing at PC a better process. It is important to note that this is not a complaint, rather a request for change.