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OPINIONS
EDITORIAL: On new Marshall construction and texting dangers
Marshall University’s newest dorms, known as Freshman North and Freshman South, are nearing completion. Resident advisors will move in during the middle of this month. Freshman will move in Aug. 22.
Purchase this photoFor now, they are known as Freshman North and Freshman South. They're the new dormitories at Marshall University, the ones being built near 20th Street.
The two new dorms will have 812 beds between them. If you went to college in the 1980s or later, they're not the dorms you remember.
Each room has its own bathroom. Wireless routers hang from the ceilings to provide broadband access anywhere in the two, four-story buildings. Each building has classrooms, conference rooms and lecture halls/theaters that will help the freshmen living there make the transition into college life.
Marshall President Stephen Kopp sees the new dorms as a tool in helping recent high school graduates make an easier transition to college life. They also could help Marshall increase its student retention. Currently, about 25 percent of freshmen don't move on to sophomore year at Marshall.
Resident advisers will begin moving into the dorms the middle of this month, and freshmen will move in on Aug. 22.
Fewer students of traditional college age are graduating from high school. Thus, colleges and universities must do what they can to attract the best applicants in a shrinking pool. The new dorms could help in that effort.
The new dorms were needed. Students demand more from their living spaces than they did a generation ago. The challenge is for Marshall officials to anticipate what else prospective students will want.
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While we're on the subject, other new buildings are under construction or nearing completion on campus. The new engineering building should open later this month, and the new student recreational center at 20th Street and 5th Avenue could open early next year.
Workers recently broke ground on a new building for the alumni association and Marshall University Foundation.
As noted above, Marshall will either adapt or fall behind. The new engineering building will provide a home for a program that will help the school improve its academic offerings significantly. It was a good move, and one that Marshall officials should duplicate as resources allow.
For an intelligent species, humans can do some pretty thoughtless things. Such as attempting to drive a car while sending a text message.
In an alert issued last week, the American College of Emergency Physicians warned that ER doctors are seeing an increase of injuries involving people who text-message while walking, riding a bicycle, skating or driving. At least two people in California died in the past year because they walked into traffic while texting.
To borrow a line used in another safety campaign, if you drive, don't text. If you text, don't drive.
As someone else once asked, why is a commodity in such short supply referred to as "common" sense?
