<ple come to school in Minnesota, the coldest state in the continental United States, and they expect cold weather. When people expect things, they prepare for them. And when I say prepare I mean it. Students come with thick sweaters, fluffy comforters, and down jackets just to prepare for what they think will be nasty, miserable, and depressing winter weather. And sure, the above listed items are used for the tiny amount of time spent outside walking from class to class or, heaven forbid, up to the Rec Center.
But, what happens as soon as you get to class? Or into your dorm room? All of a sudden the heat is blasting and you go from freezing cold to sweating hot in about the time it takes a Ferrari to go from 0-60 mph (which, for those of you who don’t know, is 3.70 seconds). And that is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
There is no reason that a school in Minnesota should foster an environment where, in the dead of the winter, students are wearing short shorts and tank tops in their dorm rooms to maintain a normal body temperature. Seriously. Students are prepared for the cold, so why not let them be in a normally heated classrooms and dorm rooms?
This school heats rooms to an excruciatingly uncomfortable temperature as soon as the first cold spell sweeps in, which according to my goose bumps is right now, and already the rooms are starting to feel like a sauna. For a school that is meant to be “environmentally friendly” it makes no sense at all that we waste so much money and energy heating the buildings to a temperature that requires students to open their windows and let the -40 degree air in.
So, what can we do about it? I don’t know. It’s a wild goose chase, and hopefully there will be an end in sight and a solution in the future. Until then, try to buy all the summer sale clothes (ie. Bikinis, shorts, and tanks) so you can prepare for the snowy Minnesota winter ahead.