A recent Georgetown alumnus asked me last year, “What can Georgetown students do to make their school a better place?” During my time abroad at Oxford, I thought much about what makes our school Georgetown – what distinguishes it from Yale, Cornell, Cambridge, or any other university.Transfers aside, most of us never get to experience college life at another institution other than anecdotally. To be sure, how a university is administered, the strength of academic departments, the size of the student body and its geographic location all matter immensely in determining the atmosphere of a place. But for college students who know no other home than Georgetown, it’s the little things that matter most. Whether Midnight Mug closes at 10 p.m. or 2 a.m., or whether the bottom row of dryers in Village B is working or not, will have far greater effects on daily life than university- or department-wide academic policies.In truth, we as students have little control over broad matters of policy. Some of us remember the [keg-party controversy](https://www.thehoya.com/news/university-decides-against-keg-ban/) of a few years ago – sure, [students were included in the discussion](https://www.thehoya.com/news/alcohol-policy-discussed-at-town-hall/), but only to a point. We students do the informal best, as this year’s Senior Dis-Orientation demonstrated. So I ask, what can we do as students to make life better, more convenient, more fun?This is a delicate question. There’s the Georgetown that exists in the minds of idealistic students and then there is the university we all attend. I don’t mean for this piece to delve into the realm of unreality. Sure, many of us would like Lauinger to look less like a bomb shelter, or we’d like DPS to actually catch the criminal dubbed the [“Georgetown Cuddler”](https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/2009/09/16/a-georgetown-cuddler-timeline/) rather than just canvass the area for results. Still, there are things that we can do. In any case, it’s the mundane that matters most.Consider the ideas I’ve included below a thought exercise, and feel free to add your own. With initiative and organization, students can relatively cheaply and easily contribute. Most of these ideas are not new. My hope is that seniors especially will take this article and whatever comments follow from it under consideration as they prepare to leave a legacy at their alma mater. After talking with many students, I’ve picked three issues:Bring back newspapers on campus: During my sophomore year, students could finally pick up [free newspapers](https://www.thehoya.com/news/national-newspapers-to-be-distributed-on-campus/) from stands located around campus. Much of this drive came from the student body itself, tired of hearing how schools with far fewer resources than Georgetown managed to do what we couldn’t. Imagine my dismay when I returned from studying abroad to find the [work undone](https://www.thehoya.com/news/college-readership-program-stalled-due-decreased-funding/). Free newspapers [can and should](https://www.thehoya.com/opinion/georgetowns-paper-chase/) be brought back in some form, and if resources are an issue, the administration and student groups ought to work together to raise whatever funds are needed. I’m willing to contribute $100 today for any initiative. I’m sure that alumni could also be approached specifically for aid.Wireless in dorms: This is an old issue, but one that really does need to be addressed. Using black boxes and orange fiber-optic wires can’t seriously be more efficient or cost effective for the university than taking the plunge and creating [campus-wide wireless Internet access](https://www.thehoya.com/opinion/wi-fi-should-encompass-university-apartments/). Pressure on our part, and on the part of graduates, should push forward something that many comparable academic institutions already have.Do something about Harbin Patio: This is clearly not a pressing need, but how the university looks does affect how we feel about the place – where we can sit, socialize and work, and how others view us. A few years back, the Senior Fund planted a tree and built a small alcove outside of Reiss-making that Leavey to Red Square walk that much nicer. Harbin patio is, frankly, a concrete eyesore. We should beautify it, or at the very least talk with landscapers or contractors to see what could be done. There must be an alumnus who is an engineer somewhere.These requests are not outlandish or unachievable, by any means. For the time being, the university should stick to basic, practical goals like these, even if it’s considering the grand, long-term picture simultaneously.Adam Kemal is a senior in the College. He can be reached at kemalthehoya.com. It’s a Long Way to Tipperary appears every other Monday at www.thehoya.com.*To send a letter to the editor on a recent campus issue or Hoya story or a viewpoint on any topic, contact [opinionthehoya.com](opinionthehoya.com). Letters should not exceed 300 words, and viewpoints should be between 600 to 800 words.*”