Every student at UNM will at one point have at least a handful of classes in Mitchell Hall. Like most buildings on campus, Mitchell Hall is old, or as the University likes to coin it, “historic”. I will be the first to admit, I happen to like the historic ambiance of the building, along the with the traditional small classroom setting. During my time spent at UNM, I know immediately, when I find out one of my classes will be held Mitchell Hall, that the classroom size will be relatively small. Unlike larger lecture classes, like those held in Woodward Hall, Mitchell Hall classrooms guarantee closer student/teacher interactions.
However, my likes of Mitchell Hall are overshadowed by too many dislikes I have accumulated over the years. On any given day, you may walk into Mitchell Hall only to smell the stench of sewer wafting through the hallways and into the classrooms. I have come to my own conclusion that Mitchell Hall’s plumbing may be just as historic as the building itself. This semester, I came to learn, after my Editing class had been complaining about the classroom being too hot, that some of the windows in Mitchell Hall cannot be opened. In fact, they seem to be welded shut, or at least, painted over. Or, maybe the sealed windows could be a form of weather proofing for winter months? During the winter months, you may become distracted by the clinking and clanking of the heaters as well.
Although the sewer stench and the clink clank sound of the heaters could at least be tolerated, along with a good chuckle, I have a hard time tolerating or even finding amusement in Mitchell Hall not being accessible in case of an emergency. In the event of a fire, or another type of emergency that would hinder students from escaping from the two doors, welded windows are not a good sign. Of course, if there were some type of emergency, I’m sure no one would hesitate to break a few windows to escape. After the Virginia Tech shootings last year, many students, me included, began to wonder how we could protect ourselves from a gunman if the door to each Mitchell Hall classroom opens from the outside, not the inside. These doors also do not have any locks. While walking down the crowded hallways, you may need to avoid getting too close to classroom doorways, because you may just get hit. Remember, these doors open from the outside only.
Year after year, someone will write a letter to the Daily Lobo editor about Mitchell Hall’s building conditions. Some letters have suggested knocking down Mitchell Hall and constructing a new building. Other letters have suggested simply renovating the building, which could include new plumbing, a/v equipment and secure doors. I have always been in favor of the latter. So, why is it, year after year, Mitchell Hall still remains the same? And no, the yearly paint job, although nice, isn’t what I call a renovation.
It seems other historic buildings across campus have been kept up in terms of good plumbing, windows that can open and doors that open correctly. In fact, Scholes Hall has received quite the face lift. Glossy tile floors and the heavy cherry wood doors give the building a nice executive ambiance, and rightfully so, because Scholes Hall is where President Schmidly and other UNM top executives and administrators conduct their business.
The mere volume of students passing through Mitchell Hall’s hallways and classrooms on a daily basis is enough to make the building seem haggard and its components, like plumbing and heating run ragged as well. For this reason, UNM should invest more of its money into improving building conditions, so that professors can conduct their classes and students can learn, without having to deal with these distractions or worry about being safe. If this does not change soon, UNM may be sending out the message that executives, not students are their main priority. I’m sure that many of you, as students of this institution would like to be UNM’s main priority.
3 comments:
I agree, Mitchell Hall STINKS!! But I was in the "bulldoze it and start over" group until you made some good points here - thanks for sharing your ideas!
I agree that Mitchell needs a makeover, but I think your most important point is safety. I too have considered the added protection having internally locking doors would provide in the wake of the recent school shootings.
Interesting that the topic of safety re: armed gunmen should come up. The outward opening doors are a safety feature - fire safety. For security from force of weapons to arise as an engineering concern is not a typical classroom design parameter; it is indicative of our violence-saturated toxic culture, however.
By the way, the sewer smell is indicative of building pressurization problems rather that plumbing problems. Overpressurizing a building by pushing too much outside air in and not properly exhausting the restroom air dries up the sewer traps and allows sewer smells and roaches to propagate. You don't want to be in the building's mechanical room in the dark. Trust me.
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