This year I’ve called out the Mueller Center just once, which in my career as an editor is an all-time low. I only needed to complain once; the staff did a fabulous job responding to my problems by either acting to rectify them or explaining the necessity for some of their policies.
The only negative: I have had little to write about, until now.
The Mueller Center website does an exceptional job providing its regular hours and any changes to that schedule. Currently the site has their Spring Break hours up for those who will be using the facility over break.
The same, however, cannot be said of the Armory or ’87 Gym. These facilities’ hours of availability are next to impossible to find. I have finally memorized them now as a senior, so I’m set: Monday-Friday 9 am-11 pm, Saturday 9 am-4 pm, and Sunday 12 pm-8 pm.
It took me four years and a number of disappointing trips to these facilities only to discover they were closed. If you have ever dragged yourself out of bed on Sunday or arrived at 3:30 pm on Saturday for an afternoon pick up game, you understand my plight.
These hours are now posted online, but could be easier to find. You can only find this information after hacking through a number of links, some of which are misleadingly labeled. Of course there is a strong chance I may just be computer illiterate, but the website should be designed to accommodate those like myself.
A direct link next to the Mueller Center’s hours would consolidate this information and eliminate confusion. The website administrators should also do a better job adjusting these hours when the facilities will be in use.
The Armory, ’87 Gym, and Robison Pool are leased out for high schools and youth events so often that the chance of regular students actually getting to use them on the weekends is slight. As a bare minimum, RPI students should be made aware of these events so they don’t drag themselves down to the gym, hoping to play basketball or go swimming, only to be turned away by a mob of 10-year olds and their crazed parents.
This is another issue that is worth addressing, one I’ve tackled before. The school constantly rents out the use of RPI facilities, but never even offers a reason. I don’t think it is unreasonable to demand such information. We pay an excess of $40,000 a year to attend this college—a number which only continues to increase—shouldn’t we get a chance to use our facilities?
It doesn’t seem like too much to ask.
