I am not a morning person, but I was awake at 8 a.m. Monday-a very unusual and not altogether pleasant experience. It was not by choice that I rose at such an ungodly hour. With two hours to spare before my first class, there was no reason for me to be awake, yet the problem could not be remedied. It was impossible for me to go back to sleep, and even if I were somehow able, I dared not for fear that the noise from outside would drown out my alarm clock when it was actually time for me to go to class.
Living in Hull Hall, I cannot recall a single morning when I have not awakened, if only temporarily, to the sweet, sibilant, soothing sounds of heavy construction. It was especially noticeable Monday morning because it was taking place directly outside my window, but it is always somewhere nearby, lurking just around the corner.
I am not very clear on what exactly is the point of the construction. From what I have seen, it seems to consist primarily of tearing things down and then rebuilding them, or digging them up and putting them back. I have yet to see anything new emerge as a result of the constant construction, which seems contrary to the very concept of construction itself. Is it really constructing if nothing new is created? But this is just a question of semantics.
We are reaping the benefits of the much-acclaimed “campus beautification” project: heavy machinery as far as the eye can see.
Obviously, these are not the intended results, but means to an end, and I have to wonder: will we ever actually reach that end? There are plenty of things that have not yet been torn down and rebuilt, and by the time we finish with those, someone may decide that the campus is still not beautiful enough, and we need to start over again. The campus could very well be under construction until the end of time, like so many neglected Web pages.
That may be slightly unrealistic, but you never know. It begs the question: when will Mississippi State University be beautiful enough? I subscribe to the idea that one should not fix what “ain’t broke,” and I think that the campus would be perfectly adequate now if not for the construction equipment strewn all over it. Bulldozers, chain link fences and Upchurch Plumbing logos are not particularly pleasing to my eye, but then again, I have never known much about aesthetics.
Let us assume, though, for the moment, that the construction is a necessary evil and will eventually bless us with a campus so beautiful that one cannot gaze upon it without being blinded. The real question, in that case, is whether construction is really necessary next to dorms at 8 a.m. Residents of Hull Hall are advised to keep quiet between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m. It would be greatly appreciated (by me, at the very least) if the construction would do the same. Would it really be so difficult to rearrange the work schedule in this fashion?
I understand the concept that this construction is in some way essential to the progress of MSU. I have a problem with it only when it interferes with my sleeping late.
-Scott Hammack