By Gary Marinelli

Over the past two months, the amount of noise on campus has tremendously increased due to the construction of West Village F. I completely understand this building needs to go up to fill the need for increased housing demand.

However, I am very concerned with this project going forward into what should be a study time for students. Finals are next week, and this construction cannot go on during a time when students need to study more than ever. Right now students can’t even hear themselves talk, how are they going to be able to think with all this noise?

These students have put up with waking up at the crack of dawn all semester, even on days when they would have slept in hours later. To continue on this path into finals would be a slap in the face. Not to mention these construction workers have broken the promise President Richard Freeland made to the students a few years ago. He said construction would not start before 7 a.m. I would like to see this promise reinstated and maybe even revised as most students wake up later in the day.

By the way, this construction isn’t just a minor inconvenience to a few, it has affected the residents of Willis Hall and West Village G, but also students who have classes in Ryder and Shillman Halls. Students have already complained they wake up to their rooms actually shaking. In some cases, objects in their rooms have been knocked to the ground. I find this completely unacceptable.

I just want to reiterate that although I understand this construction needs to take place, it should not and cannot happen during finals week. There is already a policy in place to have 24-hour quiet hours in residence halls during finals. This policy was put into place for a reason. Loud noise such as construction would be considered a violation of this “quiet” hour policy. Residents need to study, and I want to be guaranteed something will be done about this, as no student should be distracted, especially during this critical time of the year.

If this construction is affecting you, stand up and tell the administration at this university. E-mail addresses of the administration can be found on www.neu.edu. Don’t forget, we are the ones who pay to go to school here. We are the customers of this university.

If there is an issue bothering you, don’t sit back, do something about it. The student government on this campus can fight for the rights of you, the student. If student government isn’t your thing then I urge you to contact me personally about this or any other issue, so that we can talk about ways to resolve it. My e-mail address is [email protected].

– Gary Marinelli is a sophomore business major and a Student Government Association senator.