As we look upon the finishing phases of the new addition to The Behavior Science Building, we are witness to a budgeting controversy unraveling before our eyes.

There have been many editorials about the issue, as well as administration coming out and defending the brand new shiny attachment to the already somewhat new shiny attachment.

But while many of us disagree with the construction, there does not appear to be much complaining when the BSB is packed full of students everyday, enjoying the coffee shop and the comfy lounge areas.

We all can grumble and whine about our tuition and fees being abused and such, but many of it is out of our control. What is in our control are minor things that students can get fixed, that would make a huge difference.

A week ago, a fellow student in one of my classes passed around a petition, advocating for working feminine hygiene product dispensers in the girls bathroom. “All we need is 100 signatures for this to move forward”, she said as the passed me the petition.

I was dumbfounded. I go into the bathroom multiple times a day, and never have I used one of the machines. But once I thought about it, I realized how this little change would impact a huge population of the school.

Another example is when the water bottle filler was broken in Eddy, and the fountain was backed up for weeks with students standing in line to fill it up the traditional way. That could have been fixed in a matter of days if one student managed to alert the maintenance staff.

Small things like that can make our daily lives on campus a little bit easier. You may not notice a lot of the small things on campus, however, just knowing that those things are available in working order, gives us a little bit more comfort.

I understand that many of these things are conveniences that are exclusively given to people that have the privilege to attend college, and we should be grateful for the things that we have already, like granite counter-tops In Sweet Temptations in the BSB for example. However, I think that we could still have conveniences that make a bigger impact on our lives than aesthetic properties.

With all the construction going on on campus, having access to amenities are more important than ever. Microwaves, food carts and temporary food stops have made the construction a bit more bearable for all of us.

Recognizing small things as big impacts is more palatable for everyone to consider versus a multi-million dollar project. The little things add up, and people will notice because they take less time to implement than larger projects. Perhaps if more initiative happens for small projects, there would be less gripe about budgeting tactics because we see the administration attempting to do things for us scattered throughout the campus, instead of focused on one area.

While I won’t be here to see the completion of many of these projects, I hope the school recognizes some of the small things that could be changed. Even small things will be noticed by prospective students, and those small things can mean a world of difference for students to feel more comfortable from there home away from home.

Holly Mayer is a junior English major and ethnic studies minor. Letters and feedback can be sent to letters@collegian.com