Change Collins bag rule

Let’s say you’re in the mood for a delicious, cooked meal, and you decide to go to Collins Living-Learning Center for lunch. You walk inside, drop off your bag on the shelves and wait in line to enter Edmondson Dining Hall.

However, you’ve made a huge mistake: You left your backpack sitting entirely unattended. But what’s the big deal? Why should you care?

Frankly, I’m surprised more people aren’t worried about the safety of their belongings. Why does it make sense to leave backpacks filled with textbooks, MP3 players and laptops out for anyone to steal? I asked a cashier why patrons aren’t allowed to bring bags inside, and the answer was because Collins is worried about its silverware being stolen.

How does this outweigh the hundreds of dollars  sitting in the majority of bags outside the dining room? If anything was stolen from us, police intervention would be required – not the case if a plate were taken. One could reply that we shouldn’t have valuable objects in our backpacks, and that they should be dropped off at our dorms before eating at Collins. Well, for those of us that don’t live in or near Collins, that’s certainly no option. Besides, the whole issue could be solved with a simple bag check.

The Dining Room at Read Hall manages fine with letting us bring our bags inside, and I can see no qualitative difference between it and the Edmondson Dining Hall. And in addition, if you think cluttering the dining hall with backpacks might be a problem, it’s clearly inconsequential compared to the risk of theft associated with abandoning our backpacks.

It seems evident to me that if a no-bag rule were to be implemented today in any other dining hall, there would be an uproar. So why does Collins get away with it? I, for one, would rather not have to trade away my safety and security for a good meal. I hope you agree, and that Collins changes this ridiculous, unnecessary and careless rule.

Brian Slattery
IU junior