Announcement: Fish have been seen swimming off campus. As of September 1st, Freshman may leave campus to decrease the number of students in the cafeteria.

The fact that freshmen can leave campus has more negative effects than positive, such as increased traffic on roads and foot, crowds at restaurants, and lack of safety precautions in public places. 

One con about the larger amount of students leaving campus: traffic increases. To state the obvious, most freshmen do not have their driver’s licenses. This means they must rely on rides from peers, parents who stay at home, or walking. The parking lot pick-up and drop off lines have grown and blocked exits or entrances. The parking lot grows in chaos as students now have to deal with an increased flow of cars. Even those who get rides from peers have noticed the growth in traffic.

“The cons of eating off campus are that you risk being late to your class after lunch if there is ever any heavy traffic,” freshman, Ashley Seymour, said. 

Foot traffic has risen as well. Students must have more awareness of their surroundings because of those who walk to nearby fast food places, such as Huds and United Supermarkets. However, not all students that walk belong to the freshmen class. They still make up the majority because they cannot drive. The locations of these fast food places within walking distance force the students to cross Bell or other heavy traffic streets. It appears as a danger to the students on foot. 

“I believe there are a lot more pedestrians walking in between cars and not being careful,” junior, Hannah Spears, said. 

Also, crowds have grown at fast-food restaurants. Because the crowds have grown, it will take longer to get food. This escalates the chance of tardiness to class. 

“The traffic at fast-food restaurants is very packed now that everyone can go off campus,” sophomore, Camry Bartlett, said. 

Despite COVID-19, upper classmen feel this does more harm than good. Lessening the number of students in the cafeteria is the main reason freshmen can leave. But even if this helps social distancing it strengthens the chance of exposure to COVID-19 because the students eat at new places and near people who may not take the same safety measures as them.

 “I think it helps speed it up [the spread of COVID] because when you are sending freshmen away they are most likely going to take their mask off the second they get off campus and come into contact with a lot of people in public places like restaurants,” Spears said.