Facilities are not publicized well enough
Issue date: 2/2/09 Section: Editorial
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Water bottle? Check.
Track field? No check. There is a group of unfamiliar faces running on the field already and they don't seem to belong to De Anza College. Who could they be? And how come there is no way for me to know when I can and cannot use the field?
De Anza rents out its facilities to many outside groups, while students have no way of knowing who they are and when they will be using the facilities.
We can only find limited information by checking class listings to see when a class is scheduled to use the pool or field. The possibility that De Anza's facilities are being used by outside groups still remains. This makes it difficult for students to know when they can and cannot take advantage of the resources De Anza offers.
In addition, outside organizations often rent De Anza's classrooms over the weekend. De Anza students and staff may assume there is a random group of high school students on campus when, in reality, De Anza is holding SAT preparatory classes.
This communication gap can be bridged with a simple, quick and easy fix. All it takes is for a weekly listing of events to be posted.
Creating an online "community center" bulletin board, listing a rundown of that month's events, would solve the problem. It would be dedicated to informing students of "unexpected events." With this calendar, the college would explain to students that De Anza rents out its facilities.
Although to some, this information may seem trivial or irrelevent, these events impact students greatly. Just because your average Joe doesn't swim religiously and isn't in tune with De Anza's swimming program, doesn't mean he can't or shouldn't be well-informed of the swimming program's events. The one day he decides he wants to swim could be the one day he isn't allowed to swim.
All other facilities are publicized accordingly. The Writing and Reading Center is a prime example. Students are well-informed of when they can visit simply by checking the WRC's Web site.
Likewise, when four-year university college representatives visit De Anza, signs are placed in front of the Admissions and Records Office, the library and occasionally the Main Quad.
So why should students be left in the dark when it comes to other events? Although these events are not directly incorporated into every student's academic life, students are still affected.
We want to know when the pool is rented out to De Anza Cupertino Aquatics. And know that the crowd of wealthy-looking people we see, just left an exclusive event in the Flint Center.
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