Opinions

The location of the Student Union (SU) suite has been a source of conflict between the Parents’ Association (PA) and the SU recently. The SU maintains that it has always been a student space, while the PA says the SU is not using the space efficiently. At the moment, the PA is correct in its analysis. The SU isn’t being used to its full potential. But it can be.

Some individuals believe SU members have an elitist attitude that discourages students from making use of the space as a student community center. However, over the past several months, the SU has made great steps in promoting the SU suite as a community space.

Initiatives including Waffle Day and Freshmen Movie Day have tried to make the SU suite into a welcoming community center for all students, and not just a select group of upperclassmen. Stuyspace, an SU sponsored campaign to promote a cleaner Stuyvesant, has proven the SU’s commitment to protecting and promoting student spaces.

The real problem lies in the fact that the SU is open for limited hours, usually from 10th period until 5 p.m.. The SU should be open the entire day, giving students a place to go during free periods and creating a hub of student activity.

If the administration paid for teachers to take shifts monitoring the SU, students could use the SU throughout the day. While this approach is unlikely due to the recent budget cuts, teachers could also volunteer to watch this area during their free periods. The best solution, however, does not add an extra burden to the budget or inconvenience the teachers—it simply requires trust. The administration should remove the doors to the SU suite, or at least leave them open during the day.

Student space is becoming increasingly rare as the number of students allowed in the library is being limited. Students are still not allowed to congregate on seven out of 10 floors.

We should treat the SU as an open space—like other open spaces, such as the senior bar and cafeteria—that students may leave and enter as they please, with security guards monitoring the area occasionally. Redefining the SU suite as an open student space would allow it to become what it should have always been—the heart of student life at Stuyvesant.