The general reception around the newly renovated Lower Wismer this year has been rather positive, yet something unexpected has fueled frustration amongst the student body. “W here the [censored] is the side door to Lower Wismer?” bellows Dominic Nunez ‘27. “I’ve run into the glass about three times this semester, and every time I curse for the doors to come back.”
One of the less noticeable, but highly felt changes to Lower Wismer this year has been the absence of the side doors facing Patterson Field. They offered an easily accessible entrance for anyone coming from BPS, New and Richter-North Halls. Now, students have to make the extra walk around the surrounding glass of Lower Wismer, and enter the doors facing FLB. Though it seems like a minor thing, it is an annoying inconvenience.
“I’m here again to complain about the lower side door being gone,” said an anonymous YikYak user, with 66 upvotes. This poster is voicing a common sentiment in the community. Yet, the question remains as to why students care about this so much.
“After years of going through the side door, it’s like second nature to walk that direction, especially if you’re coming from New or North. And now that it’s gone, I’m constantly reminded that I have to walk around the side of Lower, when it’s literally right there. Call me lazy, but I think it’s an inconvenience, especially after years of having doors there,” said Isabella McKeefery ‘26.
For frequent visitors of the C-Store, the doors were perfect as they provided an entrance just steps away from the shop. Now students have to filter in and out of one doorway, which has notably heavier doors to push open. Fifth year, William Gillette, who has experience with the older Lower claims there is a lack of airflow now, as a result of the side door no longer remaining. “It’s too claustrophobic trying to leave, I almost dropped my Pacific Harbor sushi.”
Whether or not students will adapt to this inconvenience remains a question, but the delayed construction of Lower this year doesn’t make this seem too promising. With finals week coming, tensions will certainly be at an all-time high when battling the problematic entrance to Lower.