Newsfeed
Printer-Friendly ModeExcited for next year
April 25, 2005 —
Man, this weather sucks, doesn't it? Obviously, that isn't what my column is about this time. But damn does it suck to be wiping the snow off my car on April 24.
Anyway, to the point. I'm excited. Normally at this time of the year, I'm excited about the summer, about not having classes - really, excited about everything that comes along with being done with school. But this time, it's different. I'm excited for the fall. Already. I can't determine whether or not I'm a bit of a loser for that, but I don't care either way. There's a lot of great things coming to this campus between now and the fall. Hopefully through this column and whatever pieces we do on these improvements, everyone will start to care more about them. Because for once in my life, I'm excited about next year. I wasn't even excited about "next year" when it was last year and I knew I was getting this gig. But I'm excited now, and here's why.
Dining Services expansions
Last semester, I went to Central Michigan and had the privilege of eating at its Real Food on Campus (RFoC) all-you-can-eat dining area, located in the residence towers. It was a great experience - basically, residents have "meals" on their meal plans instead of dollars, and each "meal" gets the student into the RFoC for, well, all day if they want.
The point is I thought it was great. I also thought, "We'll never have that at SVSU." But then a funny thing happened. SVSU will have its own RFoC open this fall, taking over for the Doan Cafe. Our RFoC will be just like any other in theory; students pay for "meals" instead of paying a price for certain food, and can eat as much as they want. Plus, there's a much wider selection of food. I cannot stress enough how great of an improvement this will be in the fall. I think the only thing that can do my words justice is witnessing it for the first time when it's completed. And even then, it will be something to marvel at.
Like I said, I'm excited.
Kochville Township construction
Bay Road will finally be done when the fall semester starts. We'll have a four-lane boulevard from Pierce Road to Delta Road; half of it is just sitting unused (unfortunately covered in snow right now), and the other half will be built this summer. Growing up here in Saginaw, I can remember when Bay Road was two lanes from Tittabawassee to SVSU. I can remember a whole lot of other things that have changed, too, but this Bay Road construction is huge.
Pierce Road will also be worked on, and I think I can speak for all of us when I say it's about damn time. I deliberately skip past Pierce and take Freeland Road when coming to campus, even though it isn't as fast, simply to avoid that terrible stretch of what, at one point, was a road from Mackinaw to Bay. Worry no more, because that will be taken care of, just like the rest of the road leading to Freeland.
Finally, Tittabawassee will have some work done to it, as the area where Davis comes out will be improved. It will be impossible to turn left from Davis onto Tittabawassee, and while I never have problems completing the often difficult turn, most do. As a result, the area, especially with more and more people exiting and entering onto I-675, is an accident waiting to happen. There will be an island there to prevent such things from happening in the fall.
Like I said, I'm excited.
A returning staff - finally
Well, I wanted to save this for last, because even though it's very important to me, I realize it isn't as important to everyone as the other things I listed.
Anyway, for the first time since the '02-'03 school year, the Vanguard will have a returning Editor-in-Chief, a returning News Editor, and a returning Graphic Designer.
We'll also have almost all of our reporters returning, so the quality of this paper can only keep going up.
I believe you've seen a great improvement in this paper from the past couple years, and I can only aim for more next year.
Like I said, I'm excited. I hope you are too.