Statesman

Issue date: 10/15/08 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Tyler Sweeney Construction worker lays rebarb in before they can pour cement to make a foundation.

UMD is in the process of constructing a civil engineering building that will not only allow the opportunity for a new program at our school, but will be open to receive students as early as fall of 2010. This in itself may sound like good news but there's more: The building will apparently be "green," Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design (LEED) certified. The standards for such a title are as follows, according to a UMD news article called "UMD Breaks Ground for $15 Million Civil Engineering Building":

Sustainable sites
Water efficiency
Energy and atmosphere
Materials and resources
Indoor environmental quality

Certainly in a country and world as a whole where environmental concerns are becoming a major focus, this is good to hear.

The building is being erected in the northeast end of campus and will adjoin Voss-Kovach Hall where the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering departments are already housed. It will be roughly 34,000 sq. feet and have two stories.

To pay for the ongoing project, UMD is relying on a $10 million grant approved by the Minnesota Legislature, as well as a $3 million donation from James I. Swenson and $2 million coming from University funds.

While certainly having a building made to accommodate civil engineering students sounds great, there is a negative side to UMD's continual construction habit that I would like to discuss.

First of all, parking is already a huge problem at UMD. Not too long ago, for example, a friend of mine who has a parking contract with UMD had to park her car in a friend's driveway because that friend lived near campus and she couldn't find anywhere to park. While the ridership of the bus has certainly gone up, I can't help but feel that UMD should be doing more to accommodate those students who drive. After all, we are paying to be here, and the addition of another building causes even more parking spaces to be lost.

In last week's opinion section Peter Zethraus' article regarding UMD's potential purchasing of the Aquarium mentioned that he is in mock trial, and that they can't even get the funds to take a trip to the cities.

I imagine there are many other things around campus that could be funded better. Certainly upkeep and the occasional addition of buildings is important, but UMD should be taking better care of the students who are already paying to be here.

I understand that the majority of the money UMD spends on building something new doesn't come from University funds, as mentioned previously. However, some of it does, and we all feel the loss. Before taking on new projects, this school should be making sure that they are doing their best for us.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools