It has happened to all of us: walking across campus on a chilly or freezing night, ready for two minutes of heaven as we walk across the bridge. We pull the door and thud, it is locked. We fumble to find our Pioneer ID in the cold, give it a swipe, and that blaring unforgiving beep beep beep bee beeeep fills the air. And so we are caught in the cold, forced to head to the crosswalk across Evans. The university would do students a huge favor by keeping the bridge open 24 hours a day and should take the opportunity during this cold winter to do so.
It is true that no one ever promised Driscoll to be open all day, every day. On its website, the official times for the bridge to be open are only between 7am and midnight on weekdays, between 9:30am and midnight on Saturdays, and 11am and 9pm on Sundays. Still, the fact of the matter is that students want to cross Driscoll at all times of day and night, and should be able to.
This is especially a problem on cold days and freezing nights. Driscoll provides relief in the middle of campus, and having students walk around it and down to the Evans crosswalk is a hassle. Is there any good reason for this? I know I personally have been up late working or reading in Driscoll until 3am and no one ever kicked me out. If the lights are on and students already inside can stay, would it really be that much trouble to allow students to swipe in 24 hours per day? It is okay if it must be locked beyond a certain hour, but swiping a valid DU ID card should be able to open the door.
Alternatively, if there is a legal or contractual reason that the bridge must be closed for a few hours, the least DU can do is to turn off the lights. Driscoll uses a huge amount of power (seeing it at night from across the green is almost akin to seeing a multi-level cruise ship all lit up), and if it is “closed,” it should be very minimally lighted. DU tells us how much they are working on sustainability efforts all day, but would it be too much to ask that the student center not gobble up primarily coal-fired electricity all night?
Given Driscoll Bridge’s status as our student center as well as a useful way to safely cross campus, it is only reasonable to ask the university to keep it open for students to access with their ID 24 hours per day. During the chilly nights during each quarter and especially in the winter, this would be greatly appreciated by all students crossing campus. No one wants to be stuck out in the cold.
