By Greg Machado
Hey staff and faculty, do you buy Quilted Northern for you and your families? Holy Cross community, are you supplied with lovely Charmin Ultra Soft? Dorm students, when you get up in the morning and when you go to bed at night, is there always a jumbo roll of Scott stocked in your communal bathrooms for your personal duties? Pun intended. And Tyson/Haggerty, as students, when you get up in the morning and when you go to bed at night, is there always a roll of Acclaim stocked for your convenience? Unfortunately, a residence hall of the university, a university-owned building, more specifically Tyson and Haggerty, will not be allowed toilet paper this year. Toilet paper, as silly as an issue as it may seem, but nonetheless, a silly issue with no explanation or reasoning. We were given a fact sheet that states, "Toilet paper will not be available this year," without any explanation. We had an all-hall meeting the Sunday night before the first day of classes, and we were told again, "There will be no toilet paper this year," again, with no explanation. It seems to be a common theme campus-wide that there's never an explanation or reasoning for the questions and concerns that students have. Students get pushed to the wayside in a multitude of ways which contributes to a weaker community, but I digress.Folks, let's take a look at the numbers and you tell me why the students paying the most to live on campus can't be supplied something as simple as toilet paper. According to the website, the rate for living in Tyson/Haggerty compared to a traditional residence hall is $577.50 more for a double occupancy, $575 more for a single occupancy, and $645 more for a double as single occupancy. Call me crazy, but isn't there something wrong with this picture? An average of $599 more that we're paying, and we're being treated as if we're off-campus students. Franz Hall is stocked with toilet paper, Buckley Center is stocked with toilet paper, Shiley Hall is stocked with toilet paper, Waldschmidt is stocked with toilet paper, the dorms are stocked, and etc., etc. Even the Bell Tower probably has toilet paper. Fr. Beauchamp gets anything he wants or asks for: beer and wine for Wednesday pizza night, fire-stone outdoor decorative tiles leading to his front door, or a brand new Centaur refrigeration unit for the Holy Cross dining room (even though the current one can be fixed with an attainable coolant that I can't disclose the name of). Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture?We're not asking for a way out of taking classes; we're not asking for free tuition (although that would be nice); and we're not asking for a million bucks. We're asking whoever's in charge for a break. It's not that difficult to supply us, (us being students; us being students paying more than the average student in a recovering economy) with toilet paper. If every on-campus building is supplied with the necessary janitorial supplies, there is no reason that a building should be excluded, especially a residence hall with paying customers. Greg Machado is a senior global business and finance major
