There are lots of thing to love to hate here on the TCU campus
COMMENTARY
Jenny Specht

Now that the SACS visit has concluded, I want to put my two cents in on important issues that affect student life, and, in turn, students’ happiness at the school, retention rates and, most importantly, students’ likelihood to remember their alma mater fondly and donate money later on.

I could write another lengthy column on what I like about TCU; but truthfully, during mid-term season, griping and whining comes more naturally.

• So after four years of personal pet peeves and listening to the gripes of my classmates, here’s my list of what we love to hate:
  
• Sprinklers that waste water. Freshman year I was convinced that they are placed strategically to punish Sherley Hall residents who stay out too late; I still think this may be true.
  
• Parking and food.
  
• The Worth Hills shuttle bus drivers who decide to get out of the driver’s seat and take an unscheduled smoke break five minutes before your mid-term starts.
  
• Flyers taped on the sidewalk torn up, rained on and generally ugly.
  
• No elevators in Sherley, the fraternity and sorority Houses and many other facilities. Two flights of stairs are torturous in the August heat of move-in.
  
• No beer inside the football stadium.
  
• Getting charged for water if the glass is bigger than 21 ounces. (Are the larger Styrofoam cups more expensive? Does that mean that two 21-ounce glasses of water are free, but one 32-ounce glass costs money? Whose bright idea was that?)
  
• The construction on Stadium Drive near the new University Recreation Center. How long will it last?
  
• The fact that the rec. center is no longer called the Rickel, making students who cannot remember the name change feel old.
  
• People who pay with cash or check at a dining facility instead of swiping their cards. It’s usually a full two minutes before the line gets moving again.
  
• Mailboxes stuffed with junk flyers and credit card applications.
  
• Students who make-out around campus.
  
• Freshmen who try to hang out at The Pub.
  
• Having class on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
  
• An 8 a.m. final for a 10 a.m. class. People who can’t make it to class before 10 do not do well on tests that early in the morning.
  
• Solicitor’s Alley in the Student Center between the doors of The Main and the Student Center Lounge.
  
• The few restaurants within walking distance of campus. Einstein’s and Jons Grille are great, but only so many times.
  
• Cars that do not stop at the crosswalk, forcing tardy students to run for their lives to make it across University Drive.
• And finally, to put it frankly, the parking sucks. So does the food.
  Jenny Specht is a senior English and political science major from Fort Worth. She can be reached at (j.l.specht@tcu.edu).