Hello, this may seem a rather silly request, and perhaps it is, but I think that there should be more microwaves around campus for students who pack food to eat. I don’t think there is any sort of Penn Dining conspiracy to trick people into buying and eating their food, but I asked about a microwave in Houston and was told that there is one, but not for student use. In the so-called student union? I know of many microwaves on campus, but they are mostly on the west side. Can the UA have a microwave installed in Van Pelt or Houston or another east-campus hub? Again, I do feel foolish posting this on a blog but I’m sure fellow packers would agree that more on-campus microwaves would benefit a lot of students.

@Amelia
Hey Amelia! Thanks for bringing this up! We’ll definitely look into it on the Student Life committee! However, if you really want to, visit some of the cultural resource centers! They’re all extremely friendly and welcoming and they have great resources like microwaves! You can find PAACH, La Casa, and Makuu in the ARCH building on the East side of campus.

@Amelia
I don’t think the conspiracy theory is so far fetched. For Wharton students, there are only two microwaves in HH, and one in SHDH (for a student population of more than 2,000!). All three microwaves are located next to ABP and I’d be curious to know if they aren’t even managed by ABP. It would be very straightforward to quantify the impact of adding extra microwaves on ABP sales!

I’m sure this issue that has been beaten to death at some point, but I figure since I wasn’t there perhaps someone could give me a straight answer now. I lived in a quad in Gregory College House my Freshman year. I vividly remember the move in, mostly because the next three weeks were intolerably hot. I lived for a good chunk of that time in other college houses until it finally began to cool down. The Quad, the high rises, and even Sansom Place all seem to have some form of AC. Why does Gregory remain a sauna?

@Evan
Hey Evan!
That’s a perfectly fair question – thank you for asking it. There are two distinct answers to it, interestingly enough. In some cases, the reason there’s no A/C is cost; in others, it’s because of physical limitations. Sadly, many things do come down to a pricetag in the university and A/C in Gregory – much like DuBois – is simply exorbitantly cost-prohibitive. We and the administration take quality of student life very seriously, but it seems to be the case that the installation costs would neither meet nor exceed the benefits of being cooler in the spring. As for the other case (physical limitations), certain structures are simply too old or too insufficiently designed to support the large ducts that central A/C would require. This includes Hill (walls too thin) and the Palestra (foundation too old). I know that’s not the most gratifying answer, but I hope that it alleviates your curiosity. Thanks so much for asking and please do not hesistate to do so again! – Tyler