Criticism is easy. Ask any opinion columnist. Results? They're a different story altogether. For you and me to be in a position to effect legitimate change in the semesters to come, we must understand the administration's strengths as well as its weaknesses. First, contrary to popular belief, the administration is not a static entity. Diligent and well-meaning individuals within the University's spiraling hierarchy will constantly review, respond to, and address institutional inadequacies. Therein lies both problem and potential. Second, policies fail when they govern from above, far removed from the students and their advocates. There are two overriding explanations for this: misguided priorities and the abandonment of common sense.

As a whole, Columbia's administration is a bumbling morass of bureaucracy. Ten and half months wasted on one archaic pass/fail policy will gladly attest to this fact. The one redeemable quality-rather, the last vestige of humanity in this flawed system-is those truly caring individuals who work with students day in and day out. Spend, as I have, enough time with them and you'll quickly realize that they struggle with the 'overadministration' as much, if not more than the students. This is not acceptable. Columbia, as both as an academic institution and a business, must facilitate, and not hinder, grass-roots efforts for positive change. Policy must emanate from those with the greatest contact with the students-not from the cavernous halls of Low. Class deans, student and club advisers, security workers, janitors, secretaries, staff members, those with open door policies, those who go that extra step, those who know more about students than what is available in their official records, are, by nature, the students' most vocal advocates. They understand the University hierarchy and know how to approach it-they are an invaluable resource.

While I write in earnest, hoping for change, I understand that words alone are not enough. I will do what I can as a student, but I implore my peers and those remarkable folks mentioned above to take an issue to heart and champion it. Cliche? Of course. Practical?

It's all we have.

Let us first consider an issue of great personal importance-veterans' affairs. The administration and student body will couch their rhetoric and extol the citizen-soldier, but both are slow to recognize and amend flawed policies. No, this isn't a call for the immediate reinstatement of the ROTC. It's something far more manageable.

Columbia employs quite a few folks to run programs like the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Go Ask Alice, and the $15 million diversity hiring initiative, but there is not one Military Affairs representative to handle all the paperwork and logistical concerns for students who are currently serving overseas or who wish to serve. Misguided policies? That's for you to judge.

Second, for a nominal variance in price, there is a frightening disparity in the quality of undergraduate housing. Say what you will, but the "enticing" prospect of new doors in Wien does not a new dorm make. Need to fund the venture? Sell Wien "Food" Court's valuable real estate to any national fast food chain-few companies would turn down a franchise within walking distance of some 30,000 young adults. Take the rent. Invest in the building. Rinse. Repeat with Hartley's Deli and Ferris Booth. Columbia might lose its monopoly on food, but it would minimize its involvement and collect money while dramatically increasing food quality.

And who can forget the little things? Why do the Math gates, across from Barnard, close well before the end of the day's classes? It would cost little or nothing to lock them just a few hours later. While Columbia College and School of Engineering and Applied Science students take the same challenging courses and trudge through the same midterms, SEAS's add/drop deadline is almost a month later. Why? Columbia claims to produce worldly, cosmopolitan students, but we had to fight to get the New York Times. What about the Wall Street Journal? Financial Times?

Roll Call? Gmail, a free e-mail service, affords users well over two gigabytes of storage. Our $40,000 per year account? Two hundred and fifty megabytes. Columbia encourages students to apply for internships and scholarships, but it tucks away the fax machine, forcing many students to go to local copy centers and pay exorbitant prices.

So what's the problem? Why haven't these issues been resolved, rectified? The administration will tell us that it's a monetary issue, but I'm sure I could find, oh, $93,743 worth of expenditures to cut. No, it's something else, something greater-apathy. We all have our problems with the University, but we have solutions, too. Far too often, however, we view the greater administration as unchanging and unwilling to address oversights. Think again. There are great people in the administration who are willing to work with and fight for you. Go. Find them.