We believe that the change in Bjorklunden’s transportation policy, limiting travel to one vehicle and one departure time, is unfortunate. This new policy may sound like a good solution to the administration’s concerns about efficiency, safety, and insurance, but at what cost?By limiting departure time to a single, rigid hour, individual Lawrence students will be excluded from the use of Bjorklunden’s facilities. Many busy Lawrentians have been able to attend Bjorklunden weekends because of the former policy, with one van leaving later than another or one returning earlier. With this new policy, the extremely busy nature of the average Lawrentian’s schedule makes it very possible that a student may be forced to miss out on an entire weekend at the retreat simply because a non-negotiable rehearsal or lab is scheduled during the only offered departure time.
Andrew Law claims that the new policy “enhances the feeling of community that is the key aspect of the Bjorklunden experience.” However, we fail to see how this policy, which minimizes the number of students attending Bjorklunden, will increase camaraderie, or really anything at all, besides frustration at the inability to spend time at the beloved retreat.