The Scroll: Ten Things I 'Hate' About St. Thomas

One of the complaints I hear about The Scroll is that it is too upbeat and pleased with everything purple. When I hear a complaint, I go into high gear and try to make a Pareto improvement, which is economist-speak for trying to make things better for one person without making things worse for someone else.

Dr. Susan Alexander

So, here is my list of Ten Negative Things. (If you want to stay happy, do not read further.)

  1. Big puddle on the sidewalk between Ireland and John Paul II halls.
  2. Having to interact with a six-foot-tall, non-verbal cat.
  3. When we think we know something, but it’s not true.
  4. When we claim no one ever told us that, but it was in the Newsroom three times.
  5. Rooms without windows.
  6. The statue of Monsignor Terence Murphy, in front of McNeely Hall. (It looks like him, but doesn’t capture his spirit.)
  7. The entrepreneur statue on the Minneapolis campus, especially when there is ice on it.
  8. The sloping sidewalk on the north side of the John Roach Center, when there is ice on it.
  9. The sauna/refrigerator HVAC system in Aquinas Hall.
  10. That we don’t always think like economists.

I admit this is a very idiosyncratic list, particularly No. 10, and I am sure there are people who love sliding past the JRC windows on icy days.

But it’s my list and I’m sticking to it.