Lockers

May 17, 2010

Christina Vu, asst. features editor  

Filed under Opinions

Here’s a riddle for you. 

I spy with my little eye a crammed corridor chockful of people – a place where pointy elbows to the stomach are the norm and seeing small freshman hit by backpacks or shoved into lockers by upperclassmen in a hurry is nothing out of the ordinary.  Oh, and did I mention it’s a fire hazard?

If you haven’t already solved the riddle, this hectic hallway is located in the Center, and almost every single Presentation girl has had to cross through here at one point or another.  With a width of merely four feet, it’s a tight squeeze – even with just two people trying to walk past each other in opposite directions.  It really is no wonder that there are so many traffic jams.

And here comes the obvious question.  Why put lockers here in the first place?  After all, I’m sure the administration doesn’t purposely try to drive us crazy, and there really is a method to this madness.  Well, the answer is space.  We like it, we want it, and above all, we need it.

But, even though we need space, are there not any alternatives?  Going through this hallway is a tremendous fire hazard.  What with all the students trying to go to their locker, student trying to go to the bathroom or students trying to get to and from Mrs. Stampfl’s French class, there is literally just no room to move around.  

But, have no fear, for there is a solution – changing locker locations.  Though Presentation may have a rather small campus, this does not mean that there are no alternative places to put lockers. For example, the back wall of the outside of the Center is empty. Putting a row of lockers here would free up hallway traffic, making going to your locker less of a battle. 

Some might say that putting lockers outside brings up the issue of weather. However, the weather in California is typically warm and sunny, and the chance that the weather will be a burden to students is very low. For those who feel that rain could be a problem, keep in mind that on the back wall of the Center, there is a roof overhang that would shelter these lockers from the rain.

We also can’t forget about the issue of cost. Buying and installing new lockers can, admittedly, become a little pricy. But, isn’t the safety of students the primary concern of the school? The cost of buying and installing new lockers should not be an obstacle and the fact that students are being pushed and shoved because of the lack of space should be incentive enough.

Aside from purchasing new lockers, there is yet another very simple solution that would undeniably cut hallway traffic in half. The French students create unnecessary traffic, and simply having them use the main door to their classroom will greatly reduce the problem. The best part about this suggestion? There’s no cost.

Please, administration. Getting stuck in locker traffic and being pushed into lockers just isn’t any fun, so please help clear up this hallway, because no one likes a traffic jam.

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Tags: lockers, Presentation