Everyone on Troy’s campus has been full of anticipation for the new dining hall to open since they began working on it, and were so excited when it opened.

It is a wonderful, beautiful, under-staffed, under-stocked, waste. When I went there the week after it opened they ran out of plates, food and silverware.

I understand that some problems will be sorted out in time but what about the problem of the facility itself.

“New-Saga” or “Naga,” as it is affectionately called, is very nice, but not entirely necessary in my opinion.

Is it so vital to the survival of the University that they can justify spending $15 million on a dining facility?

While I’ll admit that something had to be done about dining on campus, we have so many larger problems than having the “finest dining facility in the country.” The wireless Internet doesn’t work in parts of Smith; the desks in the first floor classrooms of the Math and Science building look like they came over on the Mayflower; and air-conditioning in that same building has not worked properly in years. In addition, the library smells like mildew and it is impossible to find a quiet desk to sit in.

Trying to get to the Trojan Center is nearly impossible as you walk through the maze of construction and there is no transportation for students to get anywhere after hours. Malone Hall is falling apart around the students that are still attending class there everyday.

The lack of parking anywhere on campus is so horrible that the University can charge students excessive amounts of money to live in substandard housing on campus just so they can make it to class, and so many more problems.

I know that Troy has to look good to bring in new students, but what about the students attending the University now.

Did you really think we need marble staircases to make us happy?

The University needs to be spending money fixing what they already have.

I just cannot see why Troy is finding it necessary to spend so much money on new superfluous buildings when the students have to go to class everyday in classrooms that are falling in around them.

But then again, I cannot recall Troy University ever asking for the students’ opinion on all of this.

I am a junior communications major who is just trying to make it through the next few years without the university raising my tuition and fees anymore than they already have, but for now I guess I will go to “Naga” and try to enjoy the new dining facility, while I ignore the problems around campus.

I just hope I’ll be able to find a parking spot.

Charlotte Smith

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