With frigid temperatures outside and road construction as far as the eyes can see, Ohio State’s commuter students are faced with many challenges. Their nomadic lifestyle sometimes leaves them cut off and separated from their on-campus peers.

The OSU Off Campus Student Services office is trying to limit the challenges for students who don’t live on campus. The office, located in Room 342 of the Ohio Union, features a commuter student lounge.

“We’ve got the lounge with a large-screen television, big sofas with pillows, and we’re going to be getting some blankets soon,” said Sean McLaughlin, assistant director for OCSS.

In addition to the television and couches, the office features a study area, computers with Internet access, lockers, a refrigerator and microwave. There are 42 lockers available to students, with plans to add 39 more in the near future. The lockers are rented out quarterly, free of charge and on a first-come-first-serve basis. All of the lockers for the current quarter were gone after only a few hours on the first day of classes.

The purpose of the lounge, which sees around 100 students daily, is to provide a sort of home base for commuter students, according to McLaughlin. Since the lounge opened two years ago, use of the facility has continued to rise.

“There are always students up here watching television, hanging out and socializing. We try to replicate here for the commuters what they do in the residence halls,” McLaughlin said.

But getting the word out to commuters students has been a major roadblock for the office. According to McLaughlin, the university does not keep accurate records of who is a commuter student and who is not.

Since he has been working for the office, McLaughlin has been a part of every summer and transfer orientation session, attempting to familiarize commuter students with the services available to them.

“We provide information for the commuters, just like a resident adviser would for residence students,” he said.

The office also conducts a “Preview Day” before the start of school, which consists of several sessions for incoming commuters. One of the most popular sessions is when students break into groups and go in search of the buildings their classes will be in for that quarter.

The OCSS office started a newsletter called “Connection” that was published for the first time winter quarter. Commuter students who would like to be added to the mailing list or have any questions should contact the office.

The Undergraduate Student Government senate is also trying to get more commuter students involved. They will be holding a special meeting on Feb. 19 in the OCSS office about the services and programs available to commuter students.

“Commuters are not adequately represented. OCSS has done a great job trying to cater to commuter students. They cannot do it alone, however, and the university as a whole needs to cater more to the needs of commuters,” said Melissa Koch, USG Commuter student senator.

Koch said that her main priority is to help build a better community for commuter students. Her ideas include creating a more interactive Web site for commuters, opening a commuter lounge on West Campus and offering more programs for commuters at summer orientation sessions.

“It is a very difficult task because there is no specific list of students considered commuters and thus contacting these individuals is extremely challenging,” Koch said.

Besides a place to hang out between classes, construction and parking issues confront commuters this time of year. The recent construction on Lane Avenue and Woody Hayes Drive has become a big challenge for both commuter students and the CABS service.

“We have experienced the same delays motorists find in peak traffic hours,” said Sarah Blouch, director of Transportation and Parking Services.

Prior to the construction, a complete circuit of a Campus Loop bus took approximately 22 minutes, but now it is taking over 30 minutes. To try to compensate, more buses have been added to the route. The Commuter Express route is a different story, however.

“On the Commuter Express, our six to seven minutes between buses stretches to almost 10 minutes. The only solution is to add buses and Transportation and Parking does not have the resources to do this at this time,” Blouch said.

CABS is funded entirely by parking revenue, but alternatives for the future are being studied. Blouch said an advisory team has been formed to look for new sources of revenue and to recommend changes in bus service for the next academic year.

“We feel that we are doing the best we can with what we have to work with, but are frustrated like everyone else when delays occur, buses are crowded and students occasionally are denied a ride when the bus is full,” she said.