They actually did it!

After nearly two months, 8,967 signatures to online and paper petitions and visible protests on the Oval, the efforts of Mel Kizina, a senior in sociology, and Stacy Jurich, an undecided business freshman, came to fruition. Coca-Cola stepped in Thursday and offered to foot the $212,000 bill to keep the Oval open until June 14, the day after spring commencement, which Kizina and Jurich were working for.

This is a win-win situation for almost everybody. Kizina and Jurich, acting as a mouthpiece for the majority of students, have proven the power students have when they protest in a reasonable manner. The administration, by staying open-minded and searching for ways to keep the Oval open despite the budget cuts plaguing higher education, showed an admirable willingness to listen to students – the most important part of any university. And Coca-Cola, of course, deserves kudos for forking over the money with no apparent ulterior motives.

The only people who might be hurt by this decision are students taking classes in the summer, especially graduate and professional students, who are a greater percentage of summer students, according to Kerry Hodak, vice president of the Council of Graduate Students and chair of the Council of Student Affairs. Because of the delay, the Oval will be closed the entire summer instead of in portions throughout the spring and summer as originally planned.

Other graduate students, including Council of Graduate Students President Jamie Depelteau, are also concerned about keeping walkways open during the construction process. Vice President for Student Affairs Bill Hall has said he will try to keep essential walkways open during the summer.

Although closing the Oval during the summer might greatly inconvenience students during the summer, the fact remains that more students use the Oval during spring quarter than they do during the quarter, simply because more students are here in the spring.

The university’s original plan to work on the Oval in waves would have allowed fewer people to enjoy the Oval than the newly enacted plan. The university has correctly decided that the desires of a large group of students to have the entire Oval open all spring outweighs the inconvenience closing up the Oval during the summer may cause.