Nothing except our campus squirrels have been on top of the Thomas Cooper Library for 35 years. However, for the past week, we’ve all seen and been curious about the people running around on T-Coop’s roof. As it turns out, they haven’t just been there for the view. Rather, they have been fixing repairs to water damages that have existed for four years, damages that give us reason to be pretty concerned.
Thomas Cooper is easily one of the most visited spots on campus, as evidenced by its lack of available rooms and tables when exam weeks roll around. T-Coop is not only constantly crammed, but also in a constant semi-shabby state. An ordinary roof is forecasted to last 20-25 years, meaning ours was not only water-damaged, but also 15 years overdue for a change. While we don’t necessarily expect the library for 30,000 students to be in pristine condition, we at least require a solid roof over our head.
The university isn’t entirely at fault — there just simply hasn’t been enough money. From moldy dorms to leaky pipes, USC has had too many maintenance issues as of late and too little money with which to do repairs. But with the recent forecast for USC’s plateaued growth, we hope that this means more attention can be turned to these issues. Now that new construction is slowing down, USC can focus on fixing what’s already broken.
Deferred maintenance projects have stacked up sky high over the years and the university is now, slowly but surely, trying to address them all. Hopefully in the future, we can begin to maintain our facilities so that rather than making reactionary repairs, we can start taking preventative measures instead.