COMMENTARY

Problems? Take a closer look before you complain

Carrie Baker

It’s 15 degrees. It’s snowing outside. And the wind is blowing. I have class in, oh, three minutes, and I haven’t left my room yet. I have a 10-page paper due tomorrow. My checking account, yeah, it’s empty.
And of course, the living/housing situation next year—it’s looking very sketchy. So what am I going to do about it? Complain.

That’s right, I should complain. I should immediately go to my friends, family or anyone else that I feel should care and tell them all about my problems. Did they create my present dilemmas? No, probably not. But for reasons unknown, I feel I must exert a certain amount of disapproval for my current situation to someone, anyone.
But is it really worth it? Let’s think about it.

What do you really accomplish when you complain about your problems? Well, some may argue that complaining allows the opportunity to “vent,” venting being the process of releasing one’s bottled up emotions.

Yes, I do believe that talking and “venting” can be beneficial, but not every five minutes. I personally believe there is something that can prove to be more advantageous in the case of a potential “stressful situation.”

What is this alternative solution? Take action! We often complain to put off having to help ourselves by fixing our own problems.
Sometimes solutions are relatively simple and right under our noses,
but we have been too worked up complaining to notice that we could have eliminated the issue hours or days ago.

Next time, instead of complaining, consider taking action. Simply narrow down your problem and how it can be repaired and go from there. Instead of frustrating yourself by fixating on your problem, get up, go out, and do what is necessary to solve your own problem.

And also remember, there are some problems that simply cannot be “fixed.” These are the issues that our mother always said “time and patience” would heal. Obsessing over such uncertainties will only cause you more pain and even more problems in the end.

With these it is best to leave them alone. As soon as you allow for your mother’s recommendation of patience and time, these issues will solve themselves.

Another important item to remember when dealing with your own problems is perspective. Are you making a mountain out of a molehill? The chances are, yes, you really are.

Think about your current “issue.” Are you fretting because one of your roommates, without your consent, just ate half a loaf of bread that YOU bought with YOUR money? Let’s put this into perspective: at least you still have half a loaf of bread, and at least you had the whole loaf to begin with and the money that gave you the opportunity to buy that bread. In nine out of 10 situations you are lucky; your life could be much worse. Some things just aren’t worth complaining about once you see it all in perspective.

So before you feel compelled to complain about something, give it some perspective, and you may find it probably isn’t worth it. Still feel it’s worth grumbling about? Then if you need to complain and vent, do so … in moderation. But before it goes too far, do something about it!

Believe me, take my advice and alleviate some of the unnecessary complaints in this world and most of your stress.

COMMENTARY

Shedding some light on the housing dilemma

April Klaassen

It’s about that time of the year again. Students are scrambling around to residence hall meetings, trying to put their names in the lottery in hopes of gaining better living situations in the coming year. Perhaps some students are busy calling all the area rental agencies in hopes there is space available for them off campus.

With rumors circulating the campus about residence halls closing and the establishment of one-resident rooms, some students may be worried that there will be no space for them on campus in the coming academic year.

When I first encountered the rumors of Winkler Residence Hall switching from eight-person suites to four-person suites, I was baffled. If the university is already running out of housing, why would administrators want to make the situation worse?

Then I heard the rumor of Doughton Residence Hall closing, and I was somewhat annoyed. Although I live off campus, it still bothered me the university would cut housing so severely.

However, one cannot form an educated opinion about a particular situation without knowing the complete facts. So, I set out to dispel or confirm the rumors. I found the rumors are not entirely false, but not entirely correct either (as is the usual case with rumors).

I also realized that some students will actually benefit from the REAL housing plans for the upcoming academic year. However, other students may be left with a huge housing dilemma.

There will indeed be a change in the number of people who reside in the suites of Winkler Residence Hall, but only 12 of the suites will change from eight-person suites to four-person suites, said director of Housing Operations Tommy Wright. This change can actually benefit students because it will provide an opportunity for students to gain more privacy and space with their own rooms.

However, the change still seems to cause more problems than it provides benefits. With the single-person rooms, there will be 48 fewer spaces in which students can reside. This may seem like a small number, but it only makes worse the university’s dilemma over limited residence space.

With the loss of space and increase in student population for the next academic year, more students may want to move off campus.
However, finding off-campus housing is becoming increasingly difficult. Innumerable students desire to rent apartments but are turned down because there is no space available, according to Templeton Properties.

The change also will cause unnecessary difficulties for current Winkler residents who want to reclaim their rooms. If only four of the eight current residents can reclaim a suite, four residents in each of the 12 suites will be forced to find residence elsewhere and will have to surrender seniority in the lottery.

Since the suites on the first and fourth floors are the ones that will change to four-person suites, current residents on those floors will have first pick, leaving the other Winkler residents with little hope of obtaining the newly situated suites.

“I think it’s great they’re changing the rooms,” said junior and current Winkler resident Joy Sloan. “But not everyone is going to get in, so it’s not beneficial to everyone. There’s going to be a lot of people kicked out. I want to get a four-person room and I may not get it because the first and fourth floors get first choice. There’s probably not going to be room for everyone.”

Another issue the change raises is that of housing fees. For people residing in the four-person suites, the housing fee will increase from around $500 to $1,939 a semester, said assistant director of Housing Operations Peter Vandenberg. It’s only fair for residents of four-person suites to pay more, and some students do not mind paying the extra money in order to reside in a private room. “It’s worth it [to pay the money] to live by yourself in a big room,” said Sloan.

The university plans to close Doughton, but only when the new residence hall opens, said Wright. Don’t panic, underclassman. The new dorm houses 312 residents where Doughton only housed 296. I applaud this move by the university. Doughton looks like it’s about to fall down, and with the opening of a new residence hall, all the lost space will be compensated for.

Overall, the university made good decisions to compensate for the loss of space renovating the residence halls will cause. However, I think the changes made to Winkler may not be the best move for residents.
Although some students will benefit, others may suffer.

Our Perspective ...

Answering the call

The Student Government Association (SGA) is mobilizing efforts for a campaign that will denounce the administration’s plan to increase tuition by an additional $150 next year.

University officials are seeking the revenue to offset significant cuts in the institution’s state-allocated operating budget. Appalachian officials expect more cuts will be handed down this month.

Due to the lost state funding, the administration claims it will no longer be able to pay a portion of the school’s State Personal Act (SPA) employees.

We voiced our opposition to the proposed hike in a Feb. 5 editorial based on the fact it contradicts a state constitutional mandate that calls for an inexpensive higher education at public universities and several flaws we feel are built in to the plan.

North Carolina needs an educated workforce if its economy is to be competitive in an ever-advancing global economy. With the recent trend of increasing tuition throughout the 16-member University of North Carolina system, we fear many potential students will not have the resources to afford a much-needed college education.

In that piece we also called on the student body to unite in opposition to the administration’s proposal, a move we deem necessary to ensure the afore noted constitutional mandate of an affordable higher education for future generations of North Carolinians is preserved.

The Student Government Association has answered that call.

At the insistence of SGA President Xan Harrington, several members of the organization are currently crafting legislation that will formally state SGA’s grievances with the proposed tuition hike.

Another aspect of the organization’s self-touted “in-your-face campaign” will see members distribute literature around campus aimed at persuading students to oppose the increase.

While we view these efforts as a sound foundation, more must be done.

A successful persuasion campaign must also include efforts to inform and garner the support of tuition-bill-paying parents, members of the University Board of Trustees and UNC system Board of Governors as well as influential members of the state political scene.

We have been critical of the current SGA administration in recent weeks, but see this as a defining moment for Harrington.

The current debate over the fairness of this proposed tuition increase gives Harrington an opportunity to show his true merit as a student leader.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent war on terrorism have provided a mission for President George W. Bush, and have seen the former Texas governor unite a nation around a global military campaign that is essentially a fight for the future of the nation.

The weeks leading up to the trustees’ March 1 vote on the proposal represent a defining moment for Harrington’s SGA presidency.

In a political situation similar to Bush, Harrington has an opportunity to rally the student body around an issue that is crucial to both their wallets and the future of North Carolina.

As SGA’s primary voice to the administration and the Board of Trustees, Harrington will play a crucial role in the student body’s collective effort to keep the proposal from becoming reality.

He has already shown wise leadership by ordering the writing of the anti-tuition increase bill.

Students gave Harrington an overwhelming mandate to lead such efforts during last April’s SGA elections. For students’ sake, we only hope this was the right decision as Harrington attempts to build a united front in this evolving fight against an unjust tuition increase proposal.