Late to the Party 3

As many of my readers may have noticed, I have been very vocal when it comes to criticizing the UAA campus through my “Late to the Party” series. The point of the series, however, is not to criticize for no reason. I want this university to improve for the students who, like myself, call it home. 

So, welcome to “Late to the party 3,” where we will once again be discussing the Student Union. Although, this time around, I hope to take a much more productive stance. Ideally, I would like to come up with solutions to some of our problems rather than simply address the issues.

Over winter break, I had the privilege of visiting family in Corvallis, Oregon, which just so happens to be the city where Oregon State University, or OSU, is located. Out of a natural curiosity for the structure of other universities and the way that they function, I received a tour of the campus to write an article of everything that I noticed that OSU had that would improve our lives here if we also had them — mainly in their Student Union. 

I want to preface this article with the statement that OSU has a significantly larger student body than we do here at UAA, and that means that they also have a significantly higher budget than we do. I am not saying that we need the same amenities that OSU has, to the same scale as they do. What I am going to say is that because we live here and spend the majority of our time here on campus, we deserve to feel as though our SU and campus as a whole is our home. 

I managed to get a tour of OSU from a friend of my family, Allison Doss — a student at OSU — who also happens to be a wonderful tour guide. Doss gave a very complete tour of the campus as a whole, but I will focus primarily on their student union, given that is one of the areas which I feel needs the most improvement here at UAA. 

OSU’s student union is named Memorial Union — MU — and immediately upon entering, students are greeted with a massive marble staircase that branches off into four directions. 

If you go down the stairs off to the left or right, you will end up at a ballroom, which is a standard ballroom for events and concerts.

If you go up the stairs, however, it takes you to a hallway with a coffee shop and a few other amenities like an ID center,  and a centerpiece-esque study room. Located just past the hallway is a massive room with a second level that wraps around the upper rim of the first, similar to our own student union. 

The difference here is the amount of comfortable seating available, and the amount of students who were sitting around studying. Even on a Saturday there were at least 40 people in the room, and one of them was even playing a piano in the center. 

Considering that UAA hosts Noon Music in our own SU every Wednesday, it would make sense if we had a piano located in the SU for students to use throughout the week or at Noon Music. I am sure that we have some talented individuals who would love to be able to practice or show off their skills. 

I will once again say that it would be nice to have couches in the SU. I am sure that one reason many students were hanging out on campus at the OSU MU on a Saturday is because there was an abundance of comfortable couches. 

Another cool aspect of the MU was all of the flags hung up in the hallway at the top of the stairs. Doss informed me that each flag represented a student who was currently attending OSU from that country. The flags lined the entire hallway, and Doss mentioned that when a student graduated, their flag was retired. 

This undoubtedly helps build a community among the students who are attending OSU, and I think that we here at UAA would benefit from some variation of this — if we have enough students who are attending from outside of Alaska. 

Back at the main entrance, if you choose to go right, you will end up in the cafeteria, which is home to a Panda Express, Happy Lemon, Rocket Burger and Off The Quad. 

I have mentioned before that our own SU would benefit greatly from more restaurant options, but I will not harp on this too much, as I am sure that the powers that be have heard my many statements on the situation. 

Below the MU cafeteria is a bowling alley — MU Lanes — which has bowling, billiards, foosball, air hockey and their eGaming Lounge. To give credit where it is due, I think that our own E-Sports Lounge is actually bigger and has more available to the students than the eGaming Lounge at OSU. I do think that they have us beat by having a bowling alley, but it is worth noting that we at least put a tally on the board. 

Now, I am not saying that we need to rip out The Den and install a bowling alley, but it would be nice if we could get a pool table or two. Maybe an air hockey or foosball table, or even a dart board would be a step in the right direction for us. 

With as many engineering students as we have, I am sure that we could even make it a project to design and build our own pool tables — just a thought. 

Back at the entrance, if you decide to go through the hallway to the left, there is the Griggs Center — which supports Black and Indigenous students — a mini-mart similar to our own Bear Necessities and another cafe called the North Porch. 

Adding a second Bear Necessities to the SU could be overwhelmingly beneficial for students. 

One of the most noticeable differences from the SU while touring the MU was the massive presence of their mascot. There was a huge statue of Benny Beaver near MU Lanes, and on every single door of the building there was a beaver on the handle. 

More representation of our school mascot is another thing that I think our own SU could benefit from. I personally do not think that we have enough Spirit the Seawolf statues on our campus. I have noticed that we also don’t have nearly enough school spirit, which is ironic considering our mascot’s name. 

We need to start appreciating our school more. Maybe if we did, then we would end up seeing Spirit running through the halls passing out T-shirts and other merch.  

We can wish for all of these enjoyable services all we want, but if UAA doesn’t think that we will appreciate them, they will never work with us to make it happen. 

I am not trying to say that OSU has a better campus than us. I understand that their school is much bigger than ours and I love our school regardless. 

I am saying though, that there are some things that we can do to improve the experience for our students here. It doesn’t entirely start with UAA making changes though. 

In fact, it starts with you. If you agree with me, and you want the best experience to come out of your college career, then you need to utilize the spaces that are given to us, and vocalize the things that you want to see added to these spaces. 

If UAA simply ignores us, only then will I say that they are late to the party. Until then, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that they will work with us to improve our situation.