Lockergate '08 or How BHSA Finally Realized What Its Job Is
I'm guessing you've all received BHSA's e-mail regarding the locker situation (posted after the jump). Looks like we're gonna have a good ol' fashioned standoff with the admin! Everyone who cares about this issue, make sure you stop by the Laub Lobby to sign their petition. While there, you can sign my petition to officially rename the Laub Lobby the "Bob Loblaw Laub Lobby."
Now the more important question: Should anyone care? I recently discussed the locker situation with a friend, and she shared some interesting insights. First, she said (reasonably) the locker fees were minimal. Second, a fee is a good way to preserve a scarce resource. Third, due to the prominence of online and used book exchanges, the BHSA is strapped for cash, which it (presumably) uses to make us all happier. Thus, 1) the locker fee is a reasonably good idea; and 2) it's so small that no one should care. She conceded one could argue against them based purely on principle, but in a world with so much more to care about, why would you?
My friend makes some very good points. The locker fee would have been a good source of funds for an organization we all should support. In fact, now that the fees are gone, I plan to make a $25 donation to it just because. Hopefully others will do the same. Second, the fee was small. And it does seem kind of ridiculous that, after all we've been put through this year, the fight we're going to pick with the administration is over $25 a person.
But I still maintain this is a good thing. Even though the issue is somewhat silly, I was a little touched by BHSA's e-mail. I mean, for once the student organization heard the students' voices and is now going to amplify them to the administration. Isn't that their job, even if what the voices are saying is kind of dumb? Moreover, this is a fight we'll likely win. I doubt the administration is going to risk alienating the student body over something as small as a couple hundred lockers. Hell, they can even put them in the Hearst Annex just to shut us up. It's where problems go to die! Yes, it's likely this petition will succeed. And even though that victory is small, it would be a soothing balm over the wounds caused by constant construction, the end of the BBB, changing administration, eviction from our offices, the vanishing of that pleasant smell that used to radiate from the trees (mmm!), etc.
A locker is a small luxury, and winning them will be a small victory. But at this point, I think we could all use one. Cheers to BHSA for helping us out.
Now the more important question: Should anyone care? I recently discussed the locker situation with a friend, and she shared some interesting insights. First, she said (reasonably) the locker fees were minimal. Second, a fee is a good way to preserve a scarce resource. Third, due to the prominence of online and used book exchanges, the BHSA is strapped for cash, which it (presumably) uses to make us all happier. Thus, 1) the locker fee is a reasonably good idea; and 2) it's so small that no one should care. She conceded one could argue against them based purely on principle, but in a world with so much more to care about, why would you?
My friend makes some very good points. The locker fee would have been a good source of funds for an organization we all should support. In fact, now that the fees are gone, I plan to make a $25 donation to it just because. Hopefully others will do the same. Second, the fee was small. And it does seem kind of ridiculous that, after all we've been put through this year, the fight we're going to pick with the administration is over $25 a person.
But I still maintain this is a good thing. Even though the issue is somewhat silly, I was a little touched by BHSA's e-mail. I mean, for once the student organization heard the students' voices and is now going to amplify them to the administration. Isn't that their job, even if what the voices are saying is kind of dumb? Moreover, this is a fight we'll likely win. I doubt the administration is going to risk alienating the student body over something as small as a couple hundred lockers. Hell, they can even put them in the Hearst Annex just to shut us up. It's where problems go to die! Yes, it's likely this petition will succeed. And even though that victory is small, it would be a soothing balm over the wounds caused by constant construction, the end of the BBB, changing administration, eviction from our offices, the vanishing of that pleasant smell that used to radiate from the trees (mmm!), etc.
A locker is a small luxury, and winning them will be a small victory. But at this point, I think we could all use one. Cheers to BHSA for helping us out.
Labels: BHSA
posted by Dan at 3:59 PM
22 Comments:
Dear Fellow Boalties,
Thank you for the feedback that many of you have sent regarding our proposal for locker rentals. BHSA's role is to advocate for students and their concerns. Based on the feedback we received from students, we are asking the administration to get more lockers immediately to fill the shortage. There will be no locker rental fee. We would like to take this opportunity to provide you with additional information about the lockers .
When BHSA met with the administration a few weeks ago, we learned that the administration's priority was to allocate the 500 lockers they ordered to 1Ls, transfer, and LLM students. These students were given priority because they are new to Boalt. Under this scheme, approximately 70 lockers would have been left for nearly 600 2Ls and 3Ls. We initially conceived of the rental fee to incentivize the scarce resource. BHSA also took the position that a Boalt-wide sharing scheme would provide access to the largest number of students. While we will continue to advocate for lockers for all students, we maintain that until those lockers are built, assuming they are, a Boalt-wide sharing scheme should be implemented.
Based on your feedback, BHSA is now initiating a petition to persuade the administration to provide enough lockers for each and every student. In order to show the administration how strongly students feel about the locker situation, we need all students to stop by our table in Laub Lobby to sign the petition. We especially need 2Ls and 3Ls to sign in order to obtain a hard count of how many will use a locker and to counter the Administration's belief that 2Ls and 3Ls don't use lockers.
We will be in the lobby between 12:30-2 this week. We hope to see you there and as always we welcome your comments and concerns. We can be contacted at bhsa@law.berkeley.edu.
Sincerely,
-BHSA
It's definitely going to be interesting to see how many people actually sign the petition. Turning in less than 300 signatures would likely indicate to the administration that there's insufficient interest in 2Ls/3Ls having lockers and they were probably right to only purchase 500 lockers in the first place.
Good for BHSA. They did the right thing.
TJ points to a problem, but there are at least two straightforward solutions.
First, (and assuming AirBears gets going again) the BHSA could simply email a survey, and ask students to respond. Lord knows most of us are online more frequently than we are in the Laub Lobby.
Alternatively, if for some reason they are completely wedded to the idea of a handwritten survey and all it's grassroots charm, they could also ask how many students would NOT use a locker. That would produce a ratio, which could then be applied to student population to generate an approximate count.
From here, the chronology of "lockergate" will almost certainly go something like this: BHSA puts up petition. A majority of the student body sign it. The administration does not change the number of lockers it installs.
And then what? The BHSA is still going to be tasked with allocating lockers among the students (because the administration anticipated the great obviousness that is people not liking to pay for/share lockers and wanted to hand responsibility to another body). So, we wind up where we started. Sharing is still a good way to deal with the fact that there aren't enough lockers to go around, and fees might be a good way of allocating a scarce resource.
I hope the extra couple of steps that lead us to the exact same outcome will still make you feel warm and fuzzy, Dan. Otherwise, the $25 donation may be a little premature.
SG
SG, let's assume you are right and we do end up sharing. Riddle me this:
Why do 500 lockers for 1000 students require any "allocation" at all?
And if there is no need for allocation, why do we need a fee? What justification is there to bleed 10k to 20k from the student body? I hope your twisted reasoning and quirky economics make you feel warm and fuzzy, SG. The rest of us will follow the money.
Wait. Wait. Confusion. Let me review. They said 500 lockers are coming. They said everyone is sharing. They said 1,000 people go to school here, including LLMs/transfers/JSPs.
If the 1Ls are sharing too, as they said, HOW does that leave only 70 lockers for 2Ls and 3Ls? 500 lockers x 2 people per locker = all 1,000 of us get 1/2 of a locker. No fee needed. Petition only needed peripherally to let the admin know that sharing is not optimal, we want our own lockers, and hurry up and get us freaking lockers or we'll keep blogging about how our school sucks for all the 0Ls to see.
Nice "thinking" 5:49. Way to use your "brain." I hope that gets you far in life -- in the meantime, pipe down and let the rest of us get back to making this much more confusing and difficult than it has to be. Please. :)
Hey 5:49,
Do the math. If there are only 70 lockers left over, then, you guessed it - the 1Ls, transfers and LLMs probably get their own. Right? I mean, right?
I believe the BHSA email was just saying that if it was following the ORIGINAL admin plan of giving 1Ls, transfers, and LLMS lockers first, then, mathematically speaking, that WOULD HAVE left 70 lockers for all of the 2Ls and 3Ls (which would be completely ridiculous). So, then it decided to implement a sharing plan for everyone, so that everyone could get 1/2 a locker. There is not going to be some weird plan where all 1Ls, transfers, and LLMs get their own and then 140 of the rest of us get to share the remaining 70 lockers. Just re-read the email. It's not that difficult.
If you want to see what the demand is, BHSA could email the 1Ls/Transfers/LLMs as well and have them sign separately. The 1Ls have been talking extensively about a) wanting to retain individual lockers, and b) not paying for these, come 2L and 3L year.
Also 300/500 2-3Ls is not a bad proportion. It at least indicates that the admin is, at minimum, 300 lockers under their estimated number.
No, it's definitely NOT that hard to read their e-mails, but since you seem to be having trouble, let me break it down for you.
The web site says there are 850 JDs--that probably means around just over 300 1Ls and transfers. It also says there are 100 non-JD students. 300+100=400 people who the admin is "prioritizing."
12 days ago they said, "1Ls, transfer students, LLMs, and students with disabilities will be assigned their ***shared lockers*** by the Office of Student Services. BHSA will allocate the remaining lockers."
400 or so people sharing lockers means they need just over 200 lockers for that group.
That leaves 300 lockers for the roughly 550 2Ls and 3Ls. 300. Not 70.
Nobody has ever said the 1Ls, LLMs, etc. are getting their OWN lockers while the rest of us share and pay.
Even prioritizing the 1Ls and 2Ls, as long as they share, then MATHEMATICALLY there would be exactly the right number of lockers for everyone else to share as well.
Stop over-complicating this or defending BHSA for over-complicating this. 500 lockers is enough for 1,000 sharing students. Period.
We don't need BHSA to allocate. We only need them to advocate for more lockers. But for now, with sharing, there is enough.
Only at Boalt . . .
. . . could everyone agree on the policy, but fight over the arithmetic.
SG and others who have suggested the petition will do nothing:
Really? If we get a majority of the student body to sign an actual petition and turn it in, will they really just throw up their hands and say "too bad?" I can't believe it's as big a deal as they've made it to find space for even 800 lockers. Line the hallways with them. Put some in the stairwell temporarily. I mean, could it really be that hard? I think they didn't consider it to be that big a deal until recently, and now they'll probably work something out. I'm sure I could be wrong, but that's how I see it.
In other news, I think everyone sharing lockers is a fine plan. I did it in high school; why not now? Plus then you can figure out who your best buddy is. It's kind of cute. And thus Lockergate becomes "Lockermate!"
Like what is so different about a 1L, transfer, or LLM that would make them unable to share lockers? We all have the same number of books. And the lockers seemed to have more than enough room for mine last year. CARE BEARS SHARE!
the difference is trust. voluntarily sharing with a friend is not the same as being assigned a locker to share with someone else.
in general, i would say i trust most boalties. but unfortunately i don't trust all boalties. human nature. i wouldn't want to be randomly paired with some person as a 1L or particularly a transfer.
Ok, so where's the logistical hurdle in choosing locker partners? I'm sure even 1Ls have made at least one friend each by now, right?
I don't think I had any friends by this time last year...
By the way, Dan, will you be my locker buddy?
I'm a month into my second year and I STILL don't have any friends. I see where 12:17 is coming from.
Let's see, the petition is available from 12:30-2 PM *this* week. The email notice went out around 4PM on Wednesday. That leaves 2 days for signatures. Hmmm, they especially want 2Ls and 3Ls to sign - those students *most* likely not to be on campus every day of the week. Am I missing something?
Matt, I'll be your locker buddy. But it looks like everyone is already picking Hersh.
12:17: Are transfer students particularly shifty characters or something?! Were you saying you wouldn't want to share a locker with them?!
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