The anomalous weather has been too nice for me to maintain my usual curmudgeon attitude.

I want to applaud some recent goings-on around campus. The recent wave of volunteering and positive events on Lowry Mall, like Love Your Body Day and the Food Expo put on by HALO and the Multicultural Center, has really brightened my mood.

Nope, nevermind.

Somewhere between studying frantically for my Stat 4540 test and finishing this column, my hatred for electrical outlets resurfaced.

So I’m sitting outside Middlebush, video chatting with my boyfriend, when I notice my battery percentage is slipping. I run to the only source of outdoor outlets (right outside Ellis), realize it is shut, and book it to Memorial.

You’re probably wondering, why was that girl running everywhere? Well reader, I’m a girl with a schedule. Relationships aren’t going to throw me off.

Anyway, I plugged my charger into the first outlet I found and finished my conversation. This wasn’t just any outlet. This outlet is in the vending machine room on a thin strip of wall opposite the machines. I had to hold my computer to video chat, which was one of the stranger ways I have communicated with anyone.

This 15-minute ordeal immediately brought me back to sophomore year. Before the new student center (if I remember Brady Commons, this counts as “new”) had been completed, students used to study in Memorial Union. Late at night, a dedicated group of us gathered around the lone outlet to alternate charging our laptops. It was like the Wild West, but instead, you know, on a developed university campus.

With growing enrollment numbers each year, it’s imperative that both Ellis and Memorial break down barriers to electricity. Students have evolved into computer-dependent creatures and with that is a growing need for electrical outlets.

This got me thinking — when are we going to renovate the most utilized spaces on campus to catch up with our growing number of electronics?

In the student center, there are outlets galore. Unfortunately, because it is so crowded, I am never able to grab one. Regardless, I must say, I do appreciate the effort to include more outlets in the redesign.

One campus hotspot renovated, two more to go.

Before the unfortunate fire incident at Ellis, I parked myself in the Periodicals room to study. Now it is being used as the circulation room. I loved that room; it’s quiet, I see graduate students working, it’s really quiet, the chairs don’t leave my knees in pain and the large tables are great when I’m working on extensive papers.

Obviously and inevitably, while working on term papers, my computer would start losing power. I would try the various outlets near the table and no matter where I was the outlet was ALWAYS out of commission.

I wonder when Ellis will be renovated. Granted, I’ve been wondering this for three years. Obviously the fire incident expedited the intangible timeline for a full renovation, so this is a student’s request for more outlets. Everywhere.

This isn’t something that can be remedied immediately, of course, but I do have some suggestions.

But first, for some more anecdotes!

During the spring of 2010, I vividly remember being able to check out long, red extension chords at Memorial Union so those of us studying late at night could breathe and recharge.

Now, in the fall of 2011, with the loss of my beloved Periodicals room, I tend to settle in at the hodgepodge of tables near the construction area. It strikes me that there are more durable power strips than maximum occupancy of that area. It’s a huge draw, knowing that I will always have a spot to study without worrying about my computer dying.

If there were more spots like this around Ellis and Memorial year round, I would be the happiest student in the world.