When you go to a technological university like Rensselaer, you expect a certain ... sophistication of technology. But, walk into your local dormitory laundry room and you’ll find otherwise.
Yes, certainly the school has obtained some fairly decent washing and drying machines. While I have problems with them some of the time—try drying your clothes on a bottom dryer in the Quad laundry room and voila, wet clothes (hot air rises)—most of the time, the equipment works pretty well.
What does get annoying, however, is having to dig around for quarters that go into the slots on the laundry machines. This seemingly almost nonexistent currency is the equivalent of a rare and precious antiquity on this campus. Sometimes I feel like I’m tithing to some magical laundry god that hoards quarters or something similarly ridiculous. I try to tell myself I’m not going nuts.
Let’s not mention the fact that more than half of the time you want to do your laundry the bank just happens not to be open and your laundry plans are ultimately delayed for another day—time to don a collared shirt and tie!
How about, dare I mention it, adding card readers to the laundry machines? Then students could use RAD money or any money they’ve assigned to their card to do their laundry.
Or, if the school truly insists on being backwards when dealing with technology, try complementing the laundry rooms with change machines. That way, students could get quarters. What was that word again? Is it in the English language?
Oh yes, quarters. You know, that coin with the eagle on the back? Sometimes I think this Institute doesn’t know what it is. Even the soft drink vending machine in the Quad laundry room only takes coins—forget trying to get precious change for that crumply dollar bill of yours!
This particular issue has come up multiple times in the course of my college career, but it seems that nothing is ever done about it. I don’t think I’m asking for a whole lot with such a suggestion. It’s not like we want wireless ethernet 802.11B certified machines, but being able to swipe our student ID or simply get some quarters from a well placed change machine would be a grand upgrade to the laundry rooms. Let’s put the technological expertise of this Institute to use! After all, we are an engineering school, right?
