Dr. Tim Maharry prepares to give blood at the Oklahoma Blood Institute blood drive in the Ranger Room on Wednesday morning.
By JOHN STOWERS
Returning Northwestern Oklahoma State University students feel positive about the direction the university is headed.
The university has gone through a few changes since the end of last year. The biggest and most obvious change being the Ament Hall renovation, but there have also been a few staffing changes and new technologies being implemented across campus. Returning Northwestern students were asked for their opinion on how campus runs and looks with these changes and the feedback was mostly positive.
“I think campus has improved,” said Brock Bourgeois, a junior Computer Science major from Pratt, Kansas. “They’ve made improvements like security cameras that help with safety, and they’re working on improving Ament. This is my third year here and I can just see improvements beginning to show up throughout campus.”
Another student, Kellen Fischer, a senior Computer Science major from Enid, Oklahoma, said that he hasn’t noticed much of a change.
“It feels mostly the same. There have been some things moved around, some new things or [new] appearances. I work at the caf, and they’ve had a number of new people in, and they’ve done some things differently than how we did in the past, but I think it’s mostly for the better. That has been interesting to get used to but for the most part I’d say it’s the same if not a little better.”
Some students, however, said that, while campus was doing a good job, there was still room for improvement.
“I think the ticketing could be a little better on Coronado’s parking lots and stuff,” said Keedan Allenbach, a senior Biology and Health Sciences major from Fargo, Oklahoma. “I’ve seen people park there really sketchily. I think that’s something that could be done a little better.”
John Jones, a sophomore Piano major from Arapaho, Oklahoma, said that there should be more communication between maintenance, administration and students.
“The only thing I wish would change would be… a little update when things are down. I feel like we’re not kept up to date on things [as students]. Like yesterday I had no idea that the library was out. I didn’t know that until I walked up and saw the sign that was on the door, and it would’ve saved me time. Granted, probably not a lot of time, but I can imagine people living off campus, who need to go to the library for something, drive all the way on campus and see that the library’s AC is out and they’re not open … I didn’t see an email about that. And sometimes they do a really good job of [letting students know], and then sometimes they don’t.”
Overall, campus seems to be doing well, or even better than last year according to some students, despite the changes in educational and administrative staff and changes to the living situation for most students.