I’ve always loved the rain. There’s just something about it – the soothing sound, the way it makes you want to stay in bed all day, even the gloomy weather and when it sprinkles on your face – it’s the little things like these that make me smile.
Rain brings me back to my childhood, when I used to go outside and jump in the puddles. As much as I was warned not to, I enjoyed getting sopping wet and then coming inside and sitting wrapped up in a blanket next to the heating vent in the kitchen.
This is why I was excited that it started to rain Saturday night.
But what I soon realized is that what I don’t love about the rain is those days when the University of La Verne becomes one giant puddle.
It doesn’t rain all that often in Southern California. It never really sprinkles down here. To use a tired cliché – when it rains, it pours. And the city of La Verne and the University are never prepared.
This is my fourth year here. I’ve seen the school through many rain storms. The same problems arise every year. You would think that the school and city would learn something each time. Yeah, you would think.
But the fact is that La Verne is not prepared for rain storms, which is ridiculous because it does happen. The only sort of drainage system is the giant wash along B Street. The rest of the water has nowhere to go.
Water collects along the curbs and on the sidewalk, creating muddy pathways and giant pools of water.
Thankfully this campus is small and easily traversed on foot. But when it rains its like wading through a river or some sort of water obstacle course.
Anyone who has tried to simply cross the street while it’s raining can attest to the obstacle these puddles present.
I may have competed in long jump on my middle school track team, but that in no way prepared me to take the leaps necessary to get over these puddles.
You inevitably fall short and end up splashing yourself and those around you, soaking your shoes, socks, pants, whatever else and then have to deal with that for the rest of the day.
A simple storm drain here and there is my suggestion to the city. Any sort of drain, for that matter, would do. The water just needs somewhere to go.
With the excessive amount of rain, buildings on campus are incurring more damage from leaks and floods.
The ground floor in Miller Hall will need new carpet after the storm gave it a good drenching. Classes in the Arts and Communications Building have been relocated due to water damage and leaking, throwing off the course of the class.
That’s just the beginning of the list. The periodical section of the library – where all the sacred books are housed – is leaking, as is Founders Auditorium. Apparently you can even feel the rain on the balcony up there.
And can you imagine what the Supertents are like inside? Those things have always leaked. In fact all of these buildings have, so why has nothing been done?
The water damage is bad and needs to be stopped with something more than a pile of sandbags here and there.
But luckily the University has a vast supply of dryers just for this type of situation. Because yes, that is the answer: big giant dryers.
Let’s let the buildings continue to leak because it’s OK, we have dryers!
I grew out of my puddle-jumping galoshes long ago. But I may have to resurrect them and a bright yellow rain slicker and hat just to get to my next class. Or perhaps a nice canoe would do the trick.
Chrissy Zehrbach, a senior journalism major, is editor in chief of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at sqweet@aol.com.
