Sacramento State hates its students. OK, maybe “hate” is a little too strong, but the University does do a great number of things to make students? lives rather difficult.

The latest example of this is the discontinuation of free chlamydia testing. Apparently the University would rather its students walk around scratching their crotches and urinating neon green than being healthy. But this is just the most recent development in the University?s less than magnanimous treatment of Sac State students.

The expensive food on campus is another example of this. Students are, by definition, poor. So why does this campus seem to think the student body has $2 to spend on one taco at Gordito Burrito in the University Union?

Speaking of the University Union, when can we expect a name change to Student Union? There are more than enough students on campus to justify such a thing. This would be a place where students could go to hang out or study. The bulk of the University Union is dedicated to offices and meeting rooms instead of services for students.

Study space has also been a long complaint of students. Benches were placed in Mariposa Hall to make up for this. Oh Sac State, you spoil us so. There?s nothing like hard wooden benches to make the activity of studying more enjoyable. As we all know, a rearranged spine as a result of hours sitting on those benches helps to increase and maintain one?s attention span. Would it kill the University to put a cushion or two on those things? Studying in the Union is usually done on the second floor, but it is so crowded lately that the Fireplace Lounge looks like a refugee camp.

But that has been the story at Sac State lately: crowds everywhere, all the time. There?s hardly any place to park on campus nowadays, but the new parking garage is supposed to change all of that. Of course, they are not actually adding a vast number new spaces with the structure, they?re merely replacing many of the spots taken away with new buildings like the Alumni Center and the Regional and Continuing Education Building.

Here?s a question: Instead of building the garage, why didn?t they spend the money lobbying the City of Sacramento to build a lightrail stop closer to campus so students could cut down on traffic and save money at the same time?

The answer is simple: The University just does not care about our happiness.

So they throw a parking garage at us and pretend that they have helped us out. Meanwhile, they still get to collect the fees from thousands of parking passes.

The students have subconsciously picked up on this. One does not have to go far to find evidence. Just walk around one of the parking lots and see how many students are sitting in their cars reading, rather than going onto campus. This screams of the discomfort students have here. They are not made to feel welcome.

Frankly, the University seems like it would be content if we all used distance education and stayed off campus altogether, because it does not do anything for its students to show they care. It?s time they try something new, perhaps a free T-shirt giveaway, a new hall for students with plenty of study space, and maybe they could make a big deal out of the sports teams. In short, we trust Sac State with our tuition checks and our future, and it wouldn?t hurt them to show us that they love their students every once in a while.

Does Ryan Flatley have his lines crossed; or does the University need a change? E-mail him at [email protected].