The sad truth about the budget cuts Kansas State has been experiencing is, ultimately, the students are going to pay for them. Probably the most obvious change recently is the decreased hours at Hale Library. Bye-bye all-nighters fueled by Redbull and desperation to finish that assignment you’ve been aware of for weeks now.
“It’s not a popular opinion with the students,” Lori Goetsch, dean of K-State libraries, said. “It’s not a popular opinion with me.”
Goetsch said there has been talk of decreasing the hours for several years, but this is the first year the library just wasn’t able to pull the resources to make the whole library open all night. Try as it might, the administration simply couldn’t make more money appear in the budget.
Many students might be upset about the changes, but it’s important to place blame where it belongs — on the state. We don’t need to be yelling at the school or the library for making the changes, because if anyone is really upset about the decision, it’s Goetsch, who said it was one of the toughest decisions she has had to make.
The slashed budgets have affected all of K-State, not just the library, but it’s the cuts to the library that has affected students more than many other changes. It obvious to students because now we are limited to the few computers on the first floor when we need to do homework after midnight.
Instead of complaining, it’s time to start problem-solving. Maybe study groups can start meeting at their own homes. Maybe we just shouldn’t wait until late at night to start homework, if possible.
Several students are figuring out that maybe the earlier hours will help motivate them to not wait until midnight to start working on homework.
“If (the students) know the library is closing earlier, maybe they’ll be more inclined to come in during the day,” Brendan McCluskey, senior in biology, said.
Some students have the idea that the money saved from closing the library earlier should be saved in other areas. Many Facebook comments and some students even say the K-State athletics department could take the cuts.
However, what many people don’t realize is the athletics department is self-sustaining and doesn’t receive any funds from the school. The whole university is dealing with budget cuts, so the question is what resources do students want to go without to keep the library open.
In a perfect world, Hale Library would be open all night for students. Also in a perfect world, we wouldn’t be dealing with all these budget cuts in the first place. Adapt and overcome, and maybe — someday — there will be more funds to change the hours back.
