Now that classes have been under way for a few weeks, I have received an abundance of reading assignments. However, the challenge is not the reading itself, but where exactly on this campus I am going to read them.

I mean, there are only so many desks in Coffee Express, and besides, all you hear is hammers beating away as the bookstore is being reconstructed.

Construction, now there is a familiar scene on Eastern’s campus. I mean, forget about getting an education, this campus needs to be redone.

What about getting a decent higher education? Does any campus official ever wonder what the constant pounding of construction does to one’s study habits? How much research can really get done in a limited amount of time with five different library locations?

I went away to college like most other students for a better learning environment. I read in a viewbook on Eastern that while the architecture at Eastern is both beautiful and inspiring, it is what takes place within those buildings that is important. While Eastern offers a wonderful staff who commit themselves to education, I imagine it is a struggle for them as learning resources continue to dwindle on this campus.

The dorms offer quiet study hours for studying. But for those who have talkative roommates, or get easily distracted by noise and music, where is there to go? Maybe I could drive to Mattoon or even all the way to Champaign to get some peace and quiet.

Forget about the fact that during many students’ short four-year stay, they have never experienced a real library. I was not bothered by it until the study lounge in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union was also taken away. One day I ventured into the temporary bookstore and pondered the new scenery of school supplies and Eastern paraphernalia. I even asked the bookstore guy when they were planning on moving out of the study lounge. He said in about four weeks, which in my experience means in four years. I wondered what he would do if I grabbed a soda from the vending machine and just simply sat on the carpet and opened up a book.

My luck has vanished as I continue to wander around campus in search of a place to study. The options are limited now that the bookstore has moved into the study lounge. I have tried other options such as the Lumpkin study area, but it was pretty cold in there. I tried Buzzard Hall, but I kept running into people I knew there.

Julie Ferguson is a senior journalism major and a monthly columnist for The Daily Eastern News. Her e-mail address is [email protected]. Columns are the opinion of the author.