Our ideas for the University of Toledo’s New Year’s resolutions

With New Year’s over a week behind us, most people have already begun working on their New Year’s resolution (or breaking them). While personal resolutions are helpful in their own way, we think that the University of Toledo should set a few New Year’s resolutions of their own. Some of these resolutions are bigger than others, but at the end of the day, we think they’ll all go a long way to improving the university.

1. Keep Campus Drive open

We know that maintenance issues come up from time to time, but the road next to the Glass Bowl seems to close almost once a month. As one of the most widely-traveled areas on campus, it causes a huge traffic backup and inconvenience to students.

Luckily, the street closing this school year hasn’t been accompanied by a water main break flooding the area yet, but with the temperatures dropping, all we can do is cross our fingers.

2. Finish renovating the library

The library is still unfinished, with half of the second floor completely unusable and blocked off. Carlson library is a hub of activity for students, and the usable part of second floor is generally packed with students who are looking for somewhere to meet.

With an extremely limited amount of personal study rooms on the third and fourth floors, and the first floor used more as a computer lab than a library, it’s crucial to finish and expand the second floor. For now, the space is wasted, with yellow caution tape blocking off what could be a resource for students.

3. Bring enrollment rates up

With enrollment down and impacting UT’s budget, it has rightly been identified as one of the school’s top priorities. Enrollment has a huge impact on how much money the school can spend on improving other aspects, and a drop in enrollment makes steps like hiring freezes and other cuts necessary.

Luckily, we know this goal is far from impossible. BG’s enrollment is up 12 percent from last year, and considering their budget and location is fairly similar to our own, they prove that increasing enrollment is easily within the bounds of reality. President Gaber has already started with this goal by hiring an outside enrollment consultant, which will hopefully pay off when we get the numbers for this spring.

4. Keep parking lots open longer on game days

For a school made up by a majority of commuters, parking lot closures have a big effect on the student population. While closing lots for games isn’t inherently bad, there doesn’t seem to be a good reason to close it at 8 in the morning when the games aren’t until 10 or 12 hours later. After all, most people don’t show up to games 7 hours early to save themselves a spot.

The lot closings cause stress for students looking for parking, and no one wants to trek an extra 10 or 15 minutes when the temperatures are in the single digits. If UT could move the closings to the afternoon closer to three hours before the game, it would let the students with morning classes clear out to make more room in the parking lots and reduce congestion.

5. Beat Northern Illinois University in football

Last year, NIU’s victory hurt, but it was understandable. We had a crop of injuries that left the team considerably thinned out, and NIU was as strong as ever. This year was a completely different story. We had a strong team that was in the AP poll top 25, and there was even speculation of our team winning the MAC.

During this year’s NIU game, we were leading all the way until the fourth quarter when we choked at the last second, making this the sixth year in a row that we were defeated. This year, UT has to break out of our losing streak and take the win.

6. Bring students more relevant entertainment

While many regard last year’s MusicFest as a mixed success, there’s no denying that students loved having Mike Posner perform. Mike Posner is a perfect example of an artist popular enough to gain student attention.

However, the newest concert series being hosted by UT seems to be a little farther off the mark. When students hear about Brett Michaels being headliner, their next question is more often than not ‘Who’s that?’ Brett Michaels and the rest of the artists are more of a niche interest for students interested in older music than something mainstream that will appeal to a bulk of the student body. Trying to bring entertainment to campus is a key part of campus culture, but spending the money on entertainment the students may not want could end up costing more than it’s worth.