Dr. Blalock’s talk on Rose House’s history and tour of the tunnels were both quite enlightening.

I had never noticed that West Campus’s houses were not named after donors. I knew that Flora Rose had been a professor here, but I had assumed that she or her estate had made some sort of donation to the university, and that was why “House 5” was named after her. I love how these dormitories built to sustain a type of living-leaning community are named after professors, people who promoted learning at this institution.

Dr. Blalock also brought up an important point when discussing the controversy surrounding the (very expensive) construction of West Campus. While luxurious dorms for upperclassmen are far from a necessity for a university, they are necessary in order for Cornell to compete with other universities of similar academic caliber. If Cornell wants to convince the best and brightest to come here, it needs to have attractive housing options that can compete with those of MIT, Stanford, and the Ivy League.

I was most disappointed to hear that West Campus’s landscaping budget had been cut in order to finish its construction quickly at a lower cost. Before Dr. Blalock had mentioned it, I hadn’t really noticed that West Campus’s grounds were somewhat… sparse in comparison to North Campus’s. Now that I think about it, I do miss the colorful beds of flowers and huge trees that surrounded Balch Hall. I would love to see benches for reading and for enjoying the incredible view of Ithaca. Whenever I want to read outdoors, I normally have to go lie on the grass in the shade of a spindly little tree west of Becker. Now it’s going to bug me every time I walk around West.

The “behind-the-scenes” tour of Rose was also pretty fun. I was really impressed by how clean Rose’s kitchen is. Nearly every restaurant kitchen I’ve seen has been somewhat filthy, so the dining hall’s spotless facilities were pretty stunning.