New MTCC hours threaten student productivity
I never spend my Friday nights in the MTCC, or on campus for that matter. Though there have been those few rare occasions where I’ve had to stay late on the beginning of my weekend to complete an important assignment or tie up loose ends regarding various student organizations, the most recent being Finance Board’s budget deadline this last Friday, I’ve always taken the MTCC for granted. Effective last Monday, January 30, the MTCC will now be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, and 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays. Before this drastic change, the MTCC was open from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. all week long. As a conciliation, the Campus and Conference Center has made the recreation equipment at their Welcome Desk, including pool balls, sticks, ping pong balls and paddles, free for everyone. Though I do not use the recreation equipment, this seems a nice gesture of goodwill due to the diminished hours.
When I first heard that the MTCC would be changing their hours, it seemed the proper thing to do. Why waste time and resources keeping the student center open on days when few students actually use it for its intended purpose? And who really spends all of their weekend in the MTCC? As a commuter student, I do spend a fair amount of my time in the MTCC during the weekdays, whether attending meetings in one of the colored rooms, grabbing a quick bite to eat from Center Court or 7 Eleven, and just taking a break in between classes. I don’t feel the new hours will impede on my class schedule, and the time I spend in the MTCC because of academics, though it might affect when I come to campus to start homework. My study schedule is a little unorthodox: I like to wake up at 5 a.m. and head to campus to work on homework before my classes that start at 10 a.m. I’ve found studying in the MTCC to be convenient and closer to my classes during the week. The main draw to the MTCC however, is an early morning coffee from Global Grounds. They too have changed their schedule to reflect the updated hours. Global Grounds will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays, 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, and 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays.
Although these new MTCC hours won’t interfere with any academic engagements, extracurricular activities might suffer. Center Court Late Night will also be closing 15 minutes earlier to adhere to the MTCC’s new hours. Center Court will be open 7 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday. As an executive member of several student organizations, I’ve had a handful of events held in the MTCC on Friday or Saturday nights, which always seem to have a healthy turn out, but with the new hours in effect they would restrict weekend events, and could affect the planning of future events. These new hours could even affect our beloved TechNews. Many of our readers may not be aware of how late we work, the issue you’re holding at this moment contains many man-hours of writing, copy-editing, and layout time. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been in the MTCC on Sunday until midnight putting the finishing touches on the latest issue of TechNews, and once or twice even coming in on Monday for some last minute changes, so the possibility that TechNews and myself will have to edit our internal procedures to make a new deadline is a very real issue. Though the diminished hours in the MTCC may slightly change how student organizations operate, and how some students study, spend their recreation time, and eat, it will encourage students to get off campus during the weekends, and enjoy other amenities Chicago has to offer, as well as save time and resources dedicated to operating the MTCC.
