Oneida. Scales. Waterbury. Hart. When thinking of residence halls, one may not think of these four buildings in the same context. Oneida is on the opposite side of campus from Scales and Waterbury, while Hart lies, well, at the heart. Waterbury just reopened after an extensive renovation process and Scales is up next starting in Fall 2016.

But what do these residence halls have in common?

All four have a computer lab located inside.

It’s hard not to wonder why this isn’t common among all the residence halls. Yes, Penfield Library is an excellent resource, but there are plenty of students who would much rather go to a computer lab located right inside their own residence hall than walk to Penfield. One may think this is lazy, but it’s not so much lazy as it would be convenient: easy access to computers right in a student’s own home, so to speak, in case of an emergency situation.

How many times have students had to rush in order to print something at the library in order to not be late for a class? The quick print line at Penfield is a necessary tool for these instances, but as the lines suggest, it is anything but quick the majority of the time. Students from across campus will try to print on their way to class on any given day and the quick print station lines show this.

Of course, student accountability should come into question. We should be thinking ahead and getting our work done and printed on time, right? Well, unforeseen circumstances do occur and residents in the aforementioned four buildings have an upper hand when it comes to this.

Computer labs in every residence hall would also free up space in Penfield for commuting students. Students who live off campus may be deterred from going to Penfield if it is filled with on-campus residents. Computer labs would attract more residents in their own buildings, meaning Penfield would be a less crowded place during those busy studying hours.

That’s not to say on-campus students wouldn’t still use the library. Many would still see Penfield as a much better atmosphere for study and deservedly so. And the computer labs would only have room for so many students. But in those instances when a quick print is needed or a student just doesn’t feel like walking to Penfield, whether due to the weather or lack of time, these computer labs would be a valuable addition to every residence hall.