Photo: Brennan Bova
The University of Ottawa campus is missing something. Not school spirit, well sort of, but we’ll save that for another time. In 2015, a time when many students do their work on a laptop, tablet or other electronic device, our campus is severely lacking in plugs. The most coveted spot in class isn’t a seat next to that cutie you’re trying to get a number from, but the seat by the outlets. Trust me, all available plugs usually get taken before the prof has a chance to walk into the lecture hall.
Students understand the struggles of sitting in the middle of the hallway in the Minto Sports Complex, or camping out at the library for hours after finally having found a seat that’s within reach of chargers or power cords.
Sure, in the newer buildings like Desmarais or FSS there are some areas and classrooms where it’s outlets galore. But what about in Hagen or Vanier, where finding an electrical outlet is just as likely as finding $10,000 dollars worth of fireworks?
To make matters worse, in some areas where you can actually find these much-needed outlets, they’re located in such inconvenient places that we have to strongly consider whether it’s even worth using them.
In some Morisset and Tabaret classrooms, there are four outlets. However if you want to use any of them you need to either bring an extension cord, because they don’t reach the seats, or if they do reach, you have to sit in the seat closest to the wall. Then we deal with a potential danger, as people could trip on the stretched wire and hurt themselves, bringing the laptop down with them.
The university spent $2-million on a slogan, according to La Rotonde, that quickly became a joke and a favourite meme of the student population.
I propose that next time the school should spend a portion of that on getting students more outlets. How are we supposed to defy the conventional if our tools to do so keep dying on us?
Though it would only be a partial solution, the university could also add charging stations for laptops in some of the high traffic areas.
How else are students supposed to check their Facebook and Twitter, I mean, study and take notes, if their laptop battery life is limited. Students should be worried about essays and midterms, not whether their laptop is going to die in the middle of their next lecture.
For such a great school, it shouldn’t be so hard to find plugs.
