Kellen Ott, contributor 

In recent days, you may have noticed there’s a new rule in the  Dining Commons: you have to swipe to be allowed to enter the dining hall. Which is ridiculous for a multitude of reasons. Whether you’re a commuter or you just aren’t hungry, if you don’t swipe, you can’t sit with your friends while they eat. Even though just a few weeks ago, it seemed like there was absolutely no problem with it.

I’m a commuter, so I had the absolute pleasure of learning this new rule firsthand when I tried to sit with my friends while they had lunch recently, but because I didn’t swipe, I couldn’t sit with them. Maybe I’m dramatic, but it quite honestly messed up my day. Instead of being among friends, I went to Lindell Library—a place I’m usually very happy to be—disappointed. I stayed there alone until my next class, and it felt like an eternity.  I find it very inconvenient that I can’t sit with my friends in the Dining Commons.  I already feel a little distant from my peers on occasion because I’m not a resident, so this needless rule just feels like another barrier to how I can interact with my friends on campus.

The part that irks me the most is that I don’t understand why I can’t sit in the cafeteria. I usually don’t mind rules when I understand their purpose; if they’re necessary, it doesn’t bother me. And trust me, I’ve tried to think of every possible reason that this rule could have been made, but I’ve got nothing serious enough to actually warrant the rule. I’m not sure that there would be any issue serious enough on campus to prevent students from sitting in the hall without eating the school food. It’s an extreme precaution for what seems to be a nonexistent problem. So why the change? Why is this just now an issue that needed to be stopped? What even is the issue? 

Of course, I might be missing something, and there could be a perfectly valid reason for this new rule. But as it stands, it just seems like major overkill.  It’s a strange choice to make regarding a common space on campus. I’d be more understanding if the rule were something that was only enforced if there were very few seats open and it was to save unoccupied seats for students who were actually eating, but it didn’t seem that way at all. There was a lot of open seating when I was there.

I suppose I’m just very annoyed with the whole ordeal. It seems like such a non-issue, but I’d say that’s why it’s frustrating me so much. Why restrict something so trivial as cafeteria space just because a student isn’t buying lunch? It’s an overly serious solution to an unserious problem. It feels like the kind of rule a high school would make for its cafeteria, not a university. All in all, to me, it feels like a pointless rule that will only alienate students from their peers.