The most common complaint heard at UMBC is the immense amount of stairs students must climb to get to buildings like Fine Arts, Engineering and the PAHB. Students are often seen slowly trudging up the hill on the stairs, dripping in sweat and gasping for breath. In the winter months, it is not unusual to see a poor, unsuspecting student slip and fall with a thud and a piercing cry to the cold, icy ground of the steps.

Another oft-heard gripe regards the inconveniently-placed sidewalks at UMBC that cause long and indirect journeys to classes. Instead of leisurely strolling through Erickson field to get from the residential halls to classes, students are forced to embark on the long trek around the perimeter of the field that delays their arrival to class and thus their academic progress.

Given that UMBC espouses itself as a leader in innovation, it should show its true commitment to pioneering the future of technology by replacing all of the stationary sidewalks with moving walkways and installing these walkways in places that offer students more direct routes to their destinations.

Much like those found in airports, these moving walkways would get students where they need to go without the physical stress of walking and the emotional stress that comes with frustratingly-placed pathways.

To combat the many problems students face with the burdensome stairs they must climb day after day, UMBC should install a system of lifts to get students to the most extreme points on campus. Modeled after a ski lift, UMBC’s lift system and its moving walkways counterpart would alleviate the many pains that students and professors alike endure on their voyages around campus.

Yes, some might complain that establishing a system of lifts and moving walkways will encourage laziness among the student body. Others may say that the bygone sidewalks and stairs are a good way for the students to get exercise. But with walking and billiards classes counting as necessary gym credits, it is obvious that the University does not really care about students’ physical fitness.

To pay for the installation of these moving walkways and lifts, the institution should pursue solutions that will continue to ease students’ transportation woes in a financially beneficial way.

One easy way to do this would be to allow students to purchase rides from the maintenance workers who drive around campus in golf carts. Students often look longingly at them as they zoom by and would likely be more than willing to offer up a dollar or two for a ride. Along with getting to their destination more quickly, they would look cool as hell as they whiz by their peers who must simply use the moving walkways.

It is clear that UMBC must expediently address its antiquated infrastructure of sidewalks and stairs. Junior biochemistry major Rylee MacChruim said, “I just feel like such a plebe when I use normal sidewalks and stairs.” UMBC should do its best to live up to the innovative status it claims and show once and for all that it will put the needs and well-being of its students first.

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