Residents of the social dorms noticed a big change on their quad last week in the form of a brand new playground. With this addition, where Stone and Coolidge residents once threw frisbees and read out on the grass, there is now a fenced-in eyesore.

One would think the Physical Plant would know better by now. The Little Red Schoolhouse has, after all, a well-known history of being constantly defaced. Every year, the College must use funds to repair the building from the damage wrought upon it by residents of its surrounding buildings. Why, then, would any reasonable person move a playground to the middle of the social dorm quad, adding to the risk that money will have to be spent on potential repairs?

Perhaps all Physical Plant needed was a second opinion. And who better to ask than the students who live on the quad? It is interesting, indeed, that the administration was so adamant about asking for input from the student body about new dorms that current students will never have an opportunity to experience, yet had no qualms about taking away part of the social dorm quad from the students who live there.

The least they could have done would be to forewarn the residents about the changes that would take place. Students were confronted with a similar situation last year when the area in front of B Dorm was bulldozed and transformed into a temporary parking lot one morning. The lot has yet to be proven temporary and the same concern extends to the newly located playground. Now that the playground is conveniently located beside the schoolhouse, why should anyone feel obligated to move it again?

While the Physical Plant is, needless to say, the expert when it comes to matters such as this, student concerns about where they live and the situation they live in should also be taken into account before these changes are made. The student body deserves input in these matters.