Cops

 There is a huge problem in my eyes with the police force here at Clemson. I feel that there are way too many of them and they are too strict in general.  Now don’t get me wrong I know they are keeping the peace but they need to tone down their ticket happy mentality. Last semester I was driving 44 mph in a 40 and I was pulled over. Like are you kidding me?, I thought he was joking when walked up to me. He then proceeded to lecture me for over ten minutes on the importance of driving safe. On another occasion I was pulled over one night while I was pledge driving. When the cop approached me, he instantly had an attitude and was convinced that I had been drinking. I told him that I was sober driving and I haven't had a sip of alcohol that night. He didn’t believe me and decided that I needed to perform a sobriety test. It was late I was clearly tired and this really ticked me off. The Clemson police also have been doing random dorm room checks lately. This has become very annoying as they knock on your doors and check up on you. It feels like they are trying to get you anyway that they can. 
-Connor 

Terrible Food

Everyone’s main fear with starting college is the dreadful “freshman fifteen.”  It is general knowledge that all college freshmen gain fifteen pounds the first year of food just from eating more and the unhealthy food that they eat.  But since I’ve been at Clemson, I’ve actually lost weight!  The dining halls have such terrible food, I don’t see how anyone can eat too much food from there.  All of the food is very unhealthy, but it tastes so bad I usually just don’t eat.  And since the dining halls close so early, if you get hungry after dark, there isn’t really anywhere to go eat.  Clemson has to change the dining hall food or I’m going to starve to death before I graduate!

-Dylan Burton

Crazy Roommate

My roommate is a complete psychopath.  I’m afraid to go to sleep at night with him in the same room.  When I applied for rooming at Clemson, I just did random roommate assignments because I didn’t know anyone else that went here.  That was a huge mistake.  My roommate gets arrested every other weekend for ridiculous stuff, and I’m pretty sure he deals drugs out of our dorm.  He is the sketchiest person I’ve ever been around.  I’m just counting the days to the end of the semester so I can move out and never see his face again!

-Dylan Burton

Redfern Robber

For the last few weeks of school, I have been terrified to walk outside at night.  A while back, a crazed maniac brutally robbed our campus pharmacy, and since that day, I feel unsafe when I’m alone.  The “Redfern Robber” has terrorized our entire campus and has made us realize that we are never safe, no matter where we are.  It is a reality check to everyone that a psycho could rob them and steal all their drugs from them when they’re just minding their own business, walking to class.  I for one cannot even imagine how scary it would be for a guy in sunglasses and a hoodie to take all  my drugs from me.  Clemson must do something to make it safer for their students.

-Dylan Burton

Study Room

Study Room....Enter at your own risk.

Living in Byrnes this year has been a blast but its no the best place to try and study. It always sucks when you are trying to study in your dorm room and can't because you are too busy trying to catch the lady bugs that are flying around and landing on you. There is always the study room though... if its not locked most of the time. The study room is always randomly locked for some reason or someone is in there and has it locked because they are in there with a girlfreind "studying". However, there are some times when the study room is open and is a great place to study, until people on the hall realize it is open and decide that would be a great place to hang out and talk while pretending to study. If you are trying to do well in college it is not recomended that you study in Byrnes because you will not get much done if anything.

-John Mark

Freshman Parking

Now that freshmen have to park out at the Kite Hill parking lot, Clemson makes a lot of money off parking tickets. I did not get one ticket first semester, but now that I have to park a mile away from where I live I have received five tickets this semester. I also have many friends who have recieve multiple parking tickets this semester. It is such a pain to walk a mile just to get your car.  Once you have it out you really dont feel like putting it back until you absolutely have to. The reason I have five tickets this semester is because I have had my car out a few hours before you are allowed to park in green spots and have not felt like parking it just to get it out in a few hours. So, I take a risk and hope I don't get a ticket for parking in a green spot for a few hours. It is also stupid that you cannot park in the horseshoe and sheep barn green spots until after 7:30 everyday which has led to most of my tickets. Clemson parking services are stealing students money and something needs to change.

-John Mark

No Ceilings

The school year is just about over and I am ready to be through with dorm life. It has been a great year and dorm life is not all bad but there are just some things about dorm life that I am ready to leave in the past. The thing that bothers me the most about living in a dorm is people making a mess of the place and not cleaning up after themselves. Every weekend Byrnes gets trashed and is a mess for the whole weekend until the cleaning people come in. People will spill there beer or throw up in the hallway or the evlevator and not bother to clean it up so everyone else has to put up with it all weekend. There are also people who like to knock out the ceiling tiles in the elevator rooms and leave the tiles everywhere. There is always trash all over the bathroom and in the stairwells that just makes a mess. I am ready to get out of this dump and move into an apartment.
-John Mark

Random Roommate

My first mistake going into college was choosing to have a random roommate. When I first met my roommate I knew I was in for one long awkward year. We shook hands and he didn’t even look me in the eyes. I felt that he was almost scared of my presence. However, I let it go as I figured he was just shy and would open up eventually. As the year began I initiated conversation with him but very little progress was made. If I tried to start a conversation maybe a three word response would come from him. There was also an occasion when I would come home and we would not talk the whole day. It was like living with a complete stranger. I felt closer to my RA than I did with my roommate, as we literally knew nothing about each other. There would also be times where I wouldn’t see him for like 5 days at a time. I always wondered where he was and if he would ever come back. In the back of my mind I was honestly excited because I thought there was a chance he was changing buildings. We were complete opposites and destined to fail from the start. Many people like choosing random roommates but I am a clear example of this option going horribly wrong.
-Connor

Schilletter

Dining halls at Clemson are a complete joke. With Clemson being such a prestigious school you would think there dining hall food would at least be tolerable. Coming from up north, all I heard about was how good the food was and to be honest I was very disappointed. There are very little options for food and the majority of the time, the food is gross. I don’t consider myself a picky eater but when I eat at schilletter I feel like I am forcing food down my throat. I was eating a burger there once and I had to catch myself before I threw up on my friend. I mean honestly how hard is it to cook a burger, but yet they find a way to screw it up. The burgers taste rubbery and are very hard to consume. This of course forces me to eat off campus almost every day. I have spent literally hundreds of dollars on fast food over this year. With this, comes yelling from the parents as I am blowing through their money.
-Connor

Music Maniacs

One thing that really annoys me about living on campus, particularly in Mauldin Hall, is that everyone on my hall feels the need to blare music constantly. At any point in the day there will be around five people blaring music down the halls with their doors open to make matters worse. The worst part about this is, is that all the music is completely different. One person will be playing rap while another is jamming out to some country. I mean I am not a fan of country music and when its competing with rap, it sounds like nails on a chalk board. On top of this we have this one kid who feels the need to play blaring techno 24/7. Hearing this techno makes you feel like you’re at some underground rave with people just fist pumping everywhere. Our RA’s are pretty much nonexistent and so of course this music issue will most likely never stop.
-Connor 

What quiet hours?

In my dorm quite hours are supposed to be from 7 pm to 10 am.  However, people on my hall like to make their own quite hours.  Typically I wake up at least three times a week to people coming back at 2 am and slamming doors, laughing loudly, and doing whatever they please.  On many occasions I have not gone out on a Friday night because I have had to wake up early on Saturday morning.  One time I had to get up at 4 am to go to a horse show, and I went to bed at 12 and was woken up at 2 am until about 3 am.  I  understand people are having fun but some of us have to be productive early in the morning.  Even on weekdays sometimes people are extremely loud until around 1 or 2 am.  I have early classes and try to be in bed around 12 and this is extremely annoying for me to deal with on a daily basis.  My RA is rarely in her room and fails to enforce the quite hours most of the time.  It's very frustrating and it's a main reason for why I hate dorm life.   
-Brandt 

More Closet Space

I think I speak for most girl, and maybe guys, when I say that the closets are way too small.  I know that the dorm room itself is small, but I can barely fit all of my clothes in my closet and my dresser.  I think that they should consider the fact that some of us live far enough away from home that we can't just take all of our winter clothes home and exchange them for summer one.  So I have to keep my winter clothes and summer clothes in my closet at the same time until I can make it home with most of my clothes.  It is very frustrating to have to shove my clothes place that they shouldn't be so they will fit!  I have lots of clothes and I wear most of them, so I need a bigger closet! If there isn't enough room for a closet then maybe they could make more dresser space.
-Brandt 

Full Cat Busses

Clemson tries to make excuses for a terrible parking system, and the main excuse is CAT buses.  In case you are completely oblivious to Clemson University, the CAT buses (Clemson Area Transit) drive from parking lots to central spots around campus and drop students off so they do not have to walk from parking lots to class.  Now in theory, this should take care of any problems.  But a typical CAT bus holds 55 passengers.  And from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., about ten thousand students are making their ways to class from various parking lots.  So it is next to impossible to catch a ride on the bus because they always fill up way too quickly.  Something must change about the parking system, because it does not work and it is not going to get any better!

-Dylan Burton

No Parking

Every time I come to campus to go to class, go to fike, or any other reason, I have to park like two miles away an make the grueling hike to where I am trying to go.  Trying to find an open parking spot on campus is like trying to cut a bald guy’s hair, it is impossible.  And once you do find one, you have to walk for ten minutes uphill to get anywhere on campus.  It is ridiculous!  It shocks me that Clemson has such a terrible parking system.  Nearly 20,000 students attend Clemson, and that is a LOT of cars.  I understand they only have so much real estate, but give me a break.  The University needs to prioritize parking much higher than they do.  You cannot expect me to believe that there isn’t some outdated building or area that they could not convert into student parking.  But regardless if they want to or not, at the rate Clemson is growing, they are going to have to make some drastic changes soon.  I just hope they make the changes while I’m still in school!

-Dylan Burton

No Sleep

Since I moved into the Clemson University dorms at the beginning of last semester, I haven’t gotten a single good night’s sleep.  Now I’m not the kind of guy that goes to bed at 9 o’clock every night, but I’m not an insomniac either.  But apparently my roommate is!  He stays up til two o’clock every single night, watching tv, doing homework, or just playing on his laptop.  It is ridiculous how little this kid sleeps!  And the problem with him staying up is he keeps my lying in bed awake too. I’ve had talks with him, and he does a little better for a few nights, but he always goes right back to staying up nearly all night.  I don’t know what to do!  I went to Redfern to try to get sleeping pills, and they only told me to pick up some Tylenol P.M. at the drug store.  I’m sorry, but Tylenol P.M. is not going to help my fall asleep while my roommate skypes his grandmother at two in the morning.  What really confuses me is why is grandmother is awake at 2 a.m., I guess it just runs in his family.  Anyway, I just can’t wait to move out at the end of the semester and get an apartment on my own so I can sleep whenever I want to! Campus life sucks!

-Dylan Burton

Late Night Snack

The dining halls on campus do not always have the best selection of food but for the most part I can stand eating on campus for just about every meal. There are days where they have food that I really enjoy, especially breakfast. I really enjoy eating at Schilletter almost everyday for breakfast. Schilleter has a fairly good variety for almost every meal and there are certain things they make that are pretty good. Even if there are days where nothing seems to be very appetizing, they still offer salads, sandwiches, and pizza every day that will get you by. The only big problem I have with paying to eat on campus is the dining hall's closing time. Most freshman college students stay up late studying or doing whatever and when you eat dinner between 6 and 7:30 you are bound to get hungry again around 10 or 11. It is really inconvenient when I go to the dining hall at 8 or 8:30 to eat dinner when they are starting to clean everything up and all they have is pizza. I have spent so much money on food late at night that is would be better if I didn't pay for a meal plan. The dining halls should at least be open until 10 or 11 for people to go get a bowl of cereal or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

-John Mark

Outdoor Furniture Does Not Belong Indoors

Above is the living room that is located in Lever hall.  I like that we have an area to sit, however, it is not very comfortable.  The furniture is patio furniture!  It is plastic and hard and when you sit on it you basically slide off because it is so slippery.  I cannot go sit down there and be comfortable so it's pretty much useless.  If I don't want to study in my room, or go to the library, there aren't many places for me to go.  I would think with the amount of money we pay for tuition they could give us furniture that belongs inside and isn't waterproofed for the outdoors.  If I didn't live on campus this would not be a problem.
-Brandt

I Hope You Enjoy Burnt Food

I really enjoy cooking, and when I came to college I tried to keep cooking.  I've made a lot of cakes, brownies, and other things.  But the first time I used the oven in the community kitchen, I practically burned down the building.  Basically the oven is so old it does not have a timer.  So you have to try and time it as best as you can.  The first thing I cooked was brownies, the box said to cook them for forty minutes and I did.  Well it turns out the oven cooks everything about ten minutes faster than I expected.  So the brownies were extremely burnt and hard and not edible.  Since then I have learned to take everything out ten minutes earlier than it says.  I really would like to have an oven that does not burn everything, and also it smells.  I'm pretty sure last time I cooked some bread for a dinner we had it smelled like gas, which cannot be a good thing.  This is another reason I hate campus life! 
-Brandt 
   

Guy's Community Bathrooms

One of the worst things about living on campus is community bathrooms... especially in Byrnes. It always sucks when you wake up in the morning and go to take a shower and someone who lives on a different floor decides it would be funny if they used the shower as a toilet. Not only did they decide to take a dump in the bathroom but they did it on a Friday so it could stay there all weekend and smell up the whole bathroom. This is one of the many things wrong with hundreds of guys living in one dorm all sharing bathrooms and having no responsibility to clean anything up. The bathrooms get trashed all the time and that is where I have to shower and brush my teeth every day.
-John Mark 

Snooze Button

There are many examples I can give for the disadvantages of having a roommate but the one major problem I have with my roomate is his alarm clock. He has to get up hours before me every day for football workouts and he has the loudest alarm ever. Our neighbors say they can hear it through the walls sometimes. I don't know how it is even possible but one morning he didn't even wake up to his alarm and I had to climb down out of my loft to turn it off.  I then just let him keep sleeping and he missed his classes that morning. There is nothing more irritating than being woken up before you have to almost every day.

-John Mark 

Clutter Everywhere!

Nearly everyday I come tripping into my room because there is something on the floor right in front of the door.  My roommate, while I love her, she refuses to keep her side clean.  I have always been a bit neurotic when it comes to being neat.  I always have my stuff put away so that I can utilize my space.  Before coming to college I had never lived with anyone before.  I have always have my own room and I'v found that one of the minuses of living in a dorm is roommates.  There is a very unlikely chance that you will be matched with someone that has the same habits as you do.  I came to Clemson not knowing any girls so I had to do a random roommate.  For the most part, our personalities match but in terms of living style she drives me nuts!  There are always clothes everywhere and she can't even find things on her desk.  So when she wakes up before me in the morning and can't find her other shoe there is always a ton of throwing things around in attempt to find what she is looking for.  This typically wakes me up and I tend to have trouble falling back asleep.  One time I came back from class and the door was open, but she wasn't inside.  To my surprise she was in her closet, which explains why i couldn't see her, trying to find something.  This weird part about this was that she had a flashlight! She needed a flashlight to search her own closet.  This is when you know that some organization is necessary.  Usually I don't mind if my friends have messy rooms, it's their choice, but when I am sharing a room with someone, especially a dorm room, I would like it at least organized.  When she says she is going to clean that usually consists of cramming stuff into every draw she can find.     
-Brandt

My roommate's desk

My desk...that I can actually use

My dresser

My roommates dresser