Sideways thumbs to… New skating rink on Norris East Lawn

The dreadfully cold and dark Winter Quarter will now be slightly more bearable with the opening of NU’s very own rink Friday at 5 p.m. Students no longer have to trek to Chicago to ice skate, and $3 skate rentals is a pretty sweet deal. However, the big question is why the university chose to allocate discretionary spending on a new rink as opposed to, say, pumping more money into SafeRide. The administration has also been vague on the specific price of the rink.

Plus, the new rink is potentially dangerous without any support around its perimeter. Maybe the money used to paint the purple “N” in the middle of the ice would have been better served paying for a railing of sorts.

Thumbs down to… Winter Quarter classes starting on Jan. 3

In a cruel and unusual start to the quarter, students had to move back to campus the day after New Year’s Day and jump back into classes on Jan. 3. Most students were still recovering from their New Year’s Eve adventures, much to the amusement and mockery of their semester-system friends. But it gets better: Winter Quarter classes are slated to begin on Jan. 2 next year. Let the riots begin now. At least this means we can get out a week earlier in June.

Thumbs up to… Grand opening of new Harris Hall

After a year and a half of academic homelessness, professors and students have reoccupied the shiny and updated Harris Hall. The decor is classy with a vintage feel, and the technologically-equipped classrooms make the building ripe for learning. Professors are happy with the bonding-promoting lounges and the spacious built-ins in which they can store all their recently published books.

On top of all of this greatness, the recent renovation brings the 1918 building up to fire code. No longer are we going to class in a fire hazard. Here’s to hoping Kresge’s next.

Thumbs down to… Matt Damon filming in Evanston

Come October, the whole world will get to see what Matt Damon looks like with Evanston in the background. He visited Evanston a couple weeks ago filming “Contagion,” which is projected to release his fall. While Damon is no Tom Hanks, we’d like to think he has enough star power to bring Chicago’s greatest suburb something beyond traffic fees. Unfortunately, this “big-budget disaster flick” brought the local economy the fruitful stimulus of a $400 filming permit and coffee runs. At least Lee Zimmerman got a picture out of it.