What do Ron Offutt, Earl and Dorothy Olson and Dennis and Carol Anderson all have in common? Each of them donated a large sum of money to help fund a building on campus. We owe them each thanks for giving us such wonderful buildings on campus, and one way we have done that is to name those buildings after the person or people who helped fund their construction. We have the Offutt School of Business and Olson Forum, too.
But what is named after Dennis and Carol Anderson?
Anderson Commons, or commonly DS, is named after the two generous donors, but is rarely ever called that. Most students refer to Anderson as DS because it is simple and easy. Everyone knows what you are talking about when you say DS, but no one knows what Anderson Commons is.
I propose that we as a student body use the proper name of the space for two reasons.
1. Calling it DS is just plain wrong. DS stands for Dining Services. Services. Plural. Those services encompass the Coffee Stop, Maize, Korn Krib and Anderson Commons. Calling Anderson DS just does not make sense.
2. Someone paid a lot of money to build it. Naming a building after a donor is just a small way we can repay them for their generosity, and it is insulting to have it be called something else. If I paid for a building, man would I be upset if people were so ungrateful as to call it something other than its actual name.
The solution is pretty simple. We could call it Anderson Commons. Or even Anderson. That is one step. “But it’s so long!” you are thinking, right? In the age of LOL, BRB, and OMG, we live our lives in acronyms, so DS just fits in perfectly. In the actual DS office (get it? Actually Dining Services) we sometimes call it AC. It is pretty familiar lingo for most employees. You get used to seeing CS, KK, and AC frequently enough to know they mean Coffee Stop, Korn Krib and Anderson Commons. We can extend this lingo outside the DS bubble with ease.
Be grateful. Call it Anderson.
Mykayla is a senior from Avon, Minnesota. She is a multi-media journalism major. When she isn’t working as a Student Manager in Anderson Commons, she is surfing the internet, drinking coffee, socializing with friends and going to concerts. Her favorite bands are The Wonder Years, Breathe Carolina, A Day to Remember and Man Overboard.
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