It must be that new business school smell. This week, members of the campus have made it clear that their feathers have been ruffled by a policy that restricts late-night access to Alan B. Miller Hall to students enrolled in the Business School. In contrast, most other multi-use buildings are open to all students at night, if they are open at all, so the restriction in this instance is unfair. This is a clearly a problem, and the current policy should be corrected as quickly as possible.
The primary issue here is that all undergraduate students pay a fee that goes to cover the cost of Miller, regardless of whether or not they take classes in the building. Just as it would be unfair to charge everyone for a separate recreation center that only kinesiology majors could use, it is unfair in this situation to keep non-majors out of Miller — regardless of the time.
That said, this is no gross indignation; the motivation for the policy appears sound. The fact is, this building is currently in pristine condition. Administrators admirably aim to reduce traffic and wear and tear at this early moment in Miller’s life. While we sympathize, this particular preservation technique is, frankly, unworkable. Since all students are on the hook for the building’s tab, access must be equal.
One last note: the building’s security system is still being tweaked, so there are concerns about opening the building to everyone at this point. That’s fine. Although it concerns us that the building is open at all while the security cameras and other safety devices are not fully operational, it is certainly better to be safe than sorry. However, the clock is ticking on the acceptability of this excuse. The administration needs to correct these issues, as well as who can go where when, as quickly as possible — at the very latest by the end of the semester, if not before.
