A heart-rending e-mail reached the editors several weeks ago. Student Emily Yang, a former panel member, described her search for a microwave in the Hoofdgebouw. Whereas she normally used a microwave in the IPO building, on this particular Monday she had to be in the Hoofdgebouw and did not feel like going back to the IPO building just to heat up her lunch.

“I went to the 6th floor, where I have one of my classes. I checked the mini kitchen in the hallway. No microwave. I asked a guy in the library, he didn’t know where I could find one. Then I asked a cleaning lady. She pointed me to a room that did have one. A lady in that room said that it wasn’t really for the public, but that if I knew how to use it, I could. So, 30 seconds into my microwaving, a guy walks in and asks me what I was doing there. I said that I was microwaving my food. He asked why. I said because I am really far from my own building where I can microwave. He started telling me that I was not allowed there and that it was only for trainees. He wanted me out. I told him that if I KNEW about any public microwaves, then I would be using them! He kept saying that it was not for public. I left the room with my half-heated food.”

In a written reaction Karen Ali, head of the International Office, informs us that the Domestic Affairs Department has ceased installing extra magnetrons. “They used to do that before, for instance in De Hal, but found out that things turned into one big mess there. Users leave behind a lot of food residues in the microwaves and in the neighboring area, so things got totally unhygienic. In addition, there were all sorts of smells spreading through the building, which are not appreciated by everybody.” Emily Yang is disappointed; she thinks that the problem with the smells and hygiene can be prevented easily. Meanwhile she has been able to track a microwave in a lounge area on the seventh floor of the Hoofdgebouw. Moreover, there are microwaves in the IPO building, in Potentiaal and in other lounge areas on campus. (SK)