Dear Editor,

I’d like to respond to the Editorial about ‘Locked Doors’ over the Labor Day weekend on behalf of Student Center Operations and Central Reservations Office.  Thank you for the feedback!  We try hard to be open when the students need us to be open, balanced between that need and budget of course.  Just as wind blows in different directions, so does the opinion and need for us to be open.  Several years ago, we were open over Labor Day weekend, and with the exclusion of visitors to the Bookstore (which has always been open during the Labor Day Weekend) we had just 23 visitors over a 40 hour period of operation, and just two in the game room.  We are student and data driven, and so for the past two years we were closed based on this lack of users/visitors, and the cost of being open (student labor, custodial, other overhead costs) and students seemed not to miss us.  Staff, together with the Student Union Board of Governors will consider this next spring when we review hours for the next academic year’s hours of operation.  If your readers have other suggestions or comments, please direct them to our on-line feedback site…  Listen Up!

http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=5090

But I also want to share that we do try hard to be open and not leave students a ‘drift’.  We try very hard to be open normal hours, even when the University opens late or closes early due to snowy weather conditions.  We try never to cancel an entertaining event during these periods of bad weather, and do run the Breakers game room with all of its games, amusements and sports TV.  We also want you to know that lounges are always open, in case you need a break from that kiki roomie, or you would like to watch some television or just study a little in a different atmosphere from your apartment or dorm room.  Snack and beverage vending are available all over the building, and income from these particular machines goes back to students via SUBOG.  #winning

By the way, we TOTALLY agree that engaged students are successful students.  All the research suggests this, so tell your readers to check out our on-line calendars of events at http://today.ccsu.edu/ and sign up for e-mail reminders or RSS feeds for student fun and learning events, club meetings, sports, intramurals and more!  Follow us on Twitter too!  @CCSUToday !

PS  Great job on the first two issues.  Keep it up!

Wayne ‘Otis’ Mamed, MS., Director, CCSU Student Center Operations