AUC community has mixed opinions about the long distances at the new campus.
Cairo- The American University in
“There are no enough times between classes in order to go to from one class to another in such a massive campus with no shaded areas,” said Mohamed El- Kabany, a mass communications senior. “It is very tiring to walk between buildings. I have problems with my knees, and going up slides is a very huge problem for me.”
Scooters Abound
As a solution, some students bring their scooters to go around campus. In a Q and A section in one of this semester's Caravan's issues, students were asked of their opinions if there was a shop to rent out scooters around campus.
According to El- Kabany, who uses his scooter to move around campus, scooters are very practical means to deal with this issue.
“Why not renting scooters,” he said.
Golf Cars
Some students demand to ride golf cars, which they see everyday going around campus driven by staff and workers.
“Students are not supposed to see golf cars going around campus,” said Lobna Ali, events scheduler coordinator, facilities and operation department. “These cars are supposed to be moving in tunnels not on campus, but tunnels are not ready yet. Golf cars are meant to move furniture and goods not students.”
According to Ali, golf cars were used in the first place to move staff and workers to and from the site office, which was the first thing to be built before any other buildings were finished.
“Golf cars are limited and many of them belong to the contractors themselves not to AUC,” said Wafaa Sadek, acting director administrative support, facilities and operation department.
According to Sadek, AUC administration faces many other issues which take priority over the long distances issue. While there have been discussions on how to accommodate students with disabilities, nothing concrete has come out of those conversations yet.
Minor Issue
Still, some on campus feel that the facilities are adequate for those that have special needs.
“I think the new campus is more designed for handicapped,” said Laila Bahgat, a handicapped maintenance assistant. “I feel sorry for normal students since they are not allowed to use elevators. Elevators are used only by staff and handicapped. There are many sliding down roads for people with wheelchairs.”
According to Bahgat, the design of the new campus could have been better to reduce distances, but now it is already fixed. Therefore, AUC administration can’t do anything about long distances.
“Distances are not long. They are equal to the distance between the
Some members of the AUC community argue that all private well-developed universities have similar long distances.
“This is not a problem. Student Union (SU) is not planning to do anything concerning long distances,” said Aya Hamid, SU Services Committee Chairperson and a business administration senior. “I don’t think AUC administration is planning to do anything either.”
According to Hamid, there are more serious issues to be discussed and taken into consideration. There is an AUC committee which is attended by SU members to discuss bus issues, for example.
“When people came complaining at the beginning of the semester about long distances, I thought they were joking,” said Hamid. “I also thought they were tired because of fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is over, and people must be used to the new campus and adapted by now."
7 comments:
The best thing about the new campus are the long distances. You do not need a scooter to go from the HUSS to the BEC unless there is something seriously wrong with your head :)
Did you think about elderly and handicapped?!
Yes, I did and I bet they did too which explains all the slides around campus and the elevators we cannot even use (the non-elderly and the non-handicapped, whatever that means)!
The elderly and the handicapped have all our respect, of course, and I admit that some areas like the prayer room are virtually impossible for them to get to. However, the campus is not as huge as people claim, were the egyptian streets filled with filth and beggars even human friendly? No, and we walked all around them with smiles on our faces in the old days. The university made an effort to live up to its name and people are complaining here and there. If it is not about long distances, it is about the "foul" that we do not have on campus!Remember how they complained about the SS stairs and how they were such a problem for the handicapped. I think AUCians should stop acting like drama queens because we have one of the best campuses in Cairo!
I can definitely see your valid point. I bet AUC Administration would LOVE to hear such a comment from people, pro new campus, like you!
Thank You! I also gotta say that this is a very good blog and that it should be on the AUC website, good job!
I don't think the long distances is such an issue, people are just being lazy and whiny. Like Aya mentioned, there are more important issues that should be tackled first. Long distances isn't even an issue, it's a good mini-work out, I guess.
Anyways, great blog Sara, keep it up.
Yeah, I agree, though it may be frustrating having to walk a long distance to reach your class, at the end of the day, it's not really a big concern. And to be honest, not a valid concern for most AUCians.
I think that those who have a serious physical disability have just reason to complain, because the distance may take a tole on them, however they are more often than not, aided with this distance. For example, I often see the golf cars transporting people who are physically unable to walk. Therefore this issue should not be of great concern.
I also think that it's better to have long distances (despite it being really frustrating sometimes). It's at the very least a little bit of exercise a day that people really need and may not be getting.
Also, if you're late for class, then there's nothing you can blame it on! Lol
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