Oracle Online

However, these great things have not come without struggles. My first two years in the dorms were difficult.
I wrote once before to the Oracle about how my computer wouldn’t connect to the Internet and my disabled, computer-guru brother could not come in my room because Schilling was not accessible. So he had to help me through the window.

Not only should Schilling - and the rest of the dorms - be handicap-accessible, but I should not have had to go outside Hamline for help in connecting my computer to the Internet, a basic function for students. Most universities have a type of geek squad that helps students with computer troubles. At the time, Hamline did not have this, and I was completely frustrated.

When I finally moved off campus and needed to use the Internet at school, there would be times that it was unavailable. While I understand that things happen, there should be no reason or excuse as to why a student cannot access the Internet in the middle of the day to work on schoolwork. A university that has almost 2,000 undergraduate students needs to provide the resources for them to be successful students. Even this year, as I try to use my wireless laptop at Hamline, it only works some of the time.

And let’s not forget the sorry state that those dorms are in. Crumbling and uncomfortable furniture, cold showers on cold winter mornings, and absolutely no place to put anything. I spent the better part of my sophomore year in Sorin taking cold showers in the morning. As a person who needs her morning shower to wake up and start my day, this was by far the most frustrating event.

I’m sure I could go on for another page about the parking problems at Hamline. Charging $120 a year to
alreadyąfinancially struggling college students to park their car is ludicrous. And this doesn’t even guarantee that there will be a parking spot for them. How about having reserved parking spaces for those of us who commute to class, and the first-years who leave their cars on campus to go home every weekend can park on the street?

With all of that said, I will still graduate from Hamline come May. However, commencement ceremonies will not be something I or my friends will be looking forward to. Since President Osnes is retiring this summer, graduation will be about what he has done for Hamline in the umpteen years that he has been here.

What about the students who dedicated many hours to projects for classes, members of student organizations who put in their time, energy and sometimes money in order to put on a program that other students at Hamline could enjoy? And what about the activities that Hamline students have taken part in for different communities, such as the homelessness event or service-learning trips? We deserve recognition for the time and energy we spent on these activities. President Osnes should not receive all the recognition at graduation - something I’m afraid he will get anyway. Without us, there would not be a university, and we deserve some acknowledgement of that.

If you asked me “If you could do it all over again at Hamline, would you?” I would have a difficult time answering with a resounding yes. While I am grateful for the experiences that Hamline has given me, I don’t think that students should have to deal with the lack of resources that Hamline imposes on them or fear that the time and energy that they spent at Hamline will go unrecognized. It’s despicable in a private university. If Hamline wants to see another 150 years of this university, it better start changing with the times.

Crystal Siegel
CLA Senior