Anyone who walks the halls of College Hall can see the master plan that MSU put into effect over the last decade. That plan has given birth to the Red Hawk Deck, The Village Apartments and University Hall, among other things.

Students who attended Montclair State University ten years ago had a completely different landscape. Today’s layout would almost be unrecognizable to many alumni.

Parking lots have become academic buildings, recreation centers and dormitories.

In 2006, student enrollment was at roughly 16,000.

A mere four years later, Montclair State now has close to 18,000 students. That same number is the goal established by MSU President Susan A. Cole. Now that it has finally been obtained, two questions can be asked: was it worth it, and will this be the end of the growth?

Since the intended quota for enrollment has been reached, the campus must now attempt to work in creating a campus capable of handling 18,000 students. So, yet again, the campus is putting another master plan into affect. Dorms, parking decks and so much more are in store for the coming years at Montclair State.

However, is there just not enough room? With the increased enrollment rate, Montclair has many students on waiting lists for housing. Sure, there are plenty of commuters but that isn’t an excuse to neglect students who want to live on campus.

There are plenty of people stuck in dorms with two other roommates when there is only space for one. Dorm rooms aren’t supposed to be luxury suites, but the students wouldn’t mind having more then five feet of open space.

This all goes back to the idea of Montclair State trying to move away from its “commuter-based school” persona of the last decade and bringing more students directly onto campus. While this a nice idea, students are not sardines; stop attempting to fit them into a space that cannot accommodate them.

The university can hardly handle current maintenance without the burden of continuous construction. The path leading from Richardson to the Student Center floods every time it rains and takes days to evaporate. Isn’t there a simple solution for this?

The university can afford building three new dorms, but refuses to build a storm drain. This is just one example of the neglect Montclair shows for their old master plans. Should the student’s of Montclair expect the same nonchalance for older, decaying parts of the campus? Susan Cole seems to be following “progression for the sake of progression,” not progression for the sake of universal improvement.

The last four incoming freshmen classes have each been the largest in school history, making for a large amount of students just to keep enrollment at the same level.

The current state of our campus is that it is ten pounds of stuff within a five-pound bag. There is only so much room to build upon, and eventually, room will run out. With available room being lessened over the years and enrollment making a climb at the same time, Montclair State has struggled to be a fully functioning company. The construction of new buildings, coupled with the maintenance of existing buildings, creates an extremely difficult job of upkeep.

We are sure that the students prefer quality to quantity. On the surface, Montclair may look large and idealistic, but upon closer examination all of the flaws reveal themselves.

Now that the rising trend in enrollment at Montclair State has hopefully ceased, the campus can finally focus on repairing and keeping the campus in good shape. After the next slew of buildings are created, Montclair State should take a break from trying to expand itself within the limited space that the campus already has. Hopefully, a day will come when we won’t have to drive past developing buildings, and instead focus, our eyes on a perfected campus.

That is, of course, until the next master plan gets revealed.

-RA and LW