“The food in Barone sucks!”

“The shuttle times are so inconvenient they might as well not have one.”

“I hate the fact that I got written up for a noise violation before quiet hours.”

These are statements students might have said, or talked about with a friend, or overheard anywhere on campus.

Complaining about whatever bothers you is your right as an American. In fact, for any institution to continue bettering itself, this should be encouraged. But complaining among friends can only do so much by itself.

At the beginning of the year, we all saw that the Stag closed at 7 p.m. After a heightened amount of criticism was brought to the attention of certain administrators and staff, the hours have now been moved up to 8 p.m., a more convenient choice for those of us who don’t have a free minute while the sun is up.

So how did this happen? Students went through the appropriate channels to voice their concerns. In this case, Jim Fitzpatrick, vice president of student affairs, listened.

Mr. Fitzpatrick was also the medium of change in a similar situation. Some students voiced their concerns over a certain planner carried in the on-campus bookstore that contained pro-anorexia slogans. As soon as he was alerted of these concerns by The Mirror, the planners were immediately pulled from the bookstore (for the full story, read “Planner pulled from campus bookstore” in our September 19 issue).

So what can we learn from these two situations? Since our school website is surprisingly navigable, it is no problem finding who is in charge of the source of your disdain. Pick up the phone and voice your complaints. Tell your friends to do the same. Write about it in an opinion article for The Mirror! With enough light shed on a problem, the school would be ignorant not to fix it.

You should also feel equally obligated to voice when you think the University is doing a good job. If you think the food in Barone is awesome on a given day, let the floor manager know. If a Public Safety officer gave you a ride to the Health Center, stop and talk to them next time you see them. Just as complaining to the right person can make something better, complimenting the right person can ensure a continuous great job.

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