Freshmen Kelsey Rohwer, a Hatchet columnist, argues against the numerous fees that GW charges.
But before you start sprinting to the Vern Express, there’s a catch – their DVD-rental policy. According to the Web site, “The loan period for Eckles Flix is two days or 48 hours. Late charges for these DVDs are $1.20 per hour. If a DVD is lost or stolen, the borrower may either pay the standard cost of any lost or damaged library material ($97.00) or replace the item with a new, exact copy.” In what situation is $97 the standard cost of any DVD?
Did The Hatchet really post this? They couldn’t find anything better to complain about than DVD late fees? What a joke!
This article is an ignorant attack on some of the best services that GW provides the student population on Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon. This time the attack is focused on Eckles, however, the Hatchet reported recently that Eckles Library was ranked, by students, to be among the “five best University services.” Why? Because of programs like “Eckles Flix,” the free finals coffee and midnight snacks, and the quality of staff at the library. You will always find a friendly face at Eckles to help you in a time of need, when that paper just wont get done.
We come to the real problem when we look at the freeriders, those who use the system without respecting the rules and abusing the trust that an institution like Eckles has placed in them. The Eckles Flix program is a privlege of Mount Vernon residents, and the fines ensure that it will be treated seriously.
The DVDs are for everyone and when you dont return it on time, it hurts others who may want it.
If you are so empassioned for removing the fines for Eckles Flix, or find the program too much, feel free to sign up for Netflix, where you pay upfront for the ability to return the DVD whenever you feel like it. But at Eckles they don’t ask for a security deposit, they trust that you will return the DVD on time, so that you will continue to use the system, and so that other can as well.
And please don’t “[ask] that one Vern person you know.” Most of us were happy, or are happy, to have lived on the Mount Vernon Campus. Where other free services are provided to us, where you can always find a late night snack on Wednesday night at Wacky Wednesday, where a caffeine fix is only 25 cents away at Eckles, and one of the only places at GW where you can stretch out on the grass and get out of the hustle and bustle of DC.
A. You’re a freshman. You have no business on M street during the weekend.
B. It’s your own responsibility to know when your stuff is due. You should be grateful that you were reminded in the “71st hour”, as you put it, let alone in the 23rd. What a joke.
C. Major editing fail. The Hatchet should pay more attention to what gets published – grammatically speaking, if not contextually.
Good news! GW read your article and intends to install a clubhouse in the basement floor of the Square 54 project next year. It will feature free wireless printing that works over VPN and DVD rentals without late fees during midterms and finals when life gets hectic. In fact that is just the default setting. You will be able to enter into a computerized system the two busiest weeks in your schedule so they’ll know the best times to accommodate you.
GW has been listening to similar complaints. Starting next year, each student will have three complimentary massages and two, half-priced pedicures to boot. There will also be a tanning bed that is free the week before Spring Break. The school figured students would appreciate it since things get so hectic around midterms that they frequently forget to make an appointment at Relaxed.
Luckily the construction project is ahead of schedule so it will be ready for next semester. Just try have a little bit of personal responsibility to hold yourself over in the meantime.
-Cory Tyler
Wait a second…you had the time to watch a DVD during finals, but not time to return it?
You are an adult now. You have to deal with the consequences of your actions.