Stepping inside the newly revamped St. Augustine Hall for the first time, any student who had been there before the summer probably noticed that there was something different.
“[The] changes are bad,” said Siddharth Thakor, 21, Business Management major. “It’s such a bad architectural plan because we used to have a big first floor but now we only have few chairs and people fight for tables and chairs and must go upstairs,” “What they can do is put more tables and chairs on the first floor. There is a lot of walking space and people don’t need all that walking space.”
The University overhauled the caf√© area of the first floor. Before, the counter was the epicenter of the room while a line of students would form in a serpentine pattern around it. Now, since the newly named Jazzman’s Caf√© counter is located against the right wall, the lines take up more space against the left wall and this makes it difficult to enter the study lounge. With so many students taking up so much space horizontally, it also makes it a less desirable dining area.
The computers on the first floor, which was formerly the reference area, are gone as well. The computers and books have been replaced with study cubicles. However, there is one problem; there are no outlets within the small cubicles, so students with laptops may find it difficult to work in that room for long hours. That is a shame because it has developed into one of the quietest places in the library, an almost perfect setting to study.
However, the second and third floors remain unaltered. Nothing changed in those two floors except that there are now larger lines of people who need to use the printer. Because of this high volume of people, there is a higher demand of output needed by the printers, which they are not capable of handling.
Also, the upper floor space is limited and is more congested now because what space there was on the first floor is no more.
Therefore the second and third floors are packed with people who look for quiet study areas and most of the times do not find any as quickly as they used to.
Some people see change as a good thing, others see change as a bad thing and still others do not care. Nevertheless, changes occurred and one has to get used to them. After all, intelligent human beings are so defined for their ability to adapt to the environment.
