According to reports, recently, college students from many universities in Northeast China posted photos of themselves cooling off in the corridors and setting up tents to spend the night, which attracted attention. Many students from Jilin University said that the daytime temperature has been around 35 degrees Celsius recently, and the dormitories are stuffy at night, so many students set up tents on the underground floor to spend the night. A student from a university in Harbin said, “I sweat when I move, and I sweat when I don’t move, and I can’t sleep at night.” Students have been sleeping on the floor in the corridors.
In response, staff from Jilin University said that they will provide summer food such as mung bean soup. Currently, only some teaching buildings and libraries have air conditioners, but not student dormitories; staff from a university in Harbin suggested that students change summer quilts and use battery-powered electric fans. Whether to install air conditioners depends on the school’s plans and arrangements; a staff member from Northeast Normal University said that they are also trying to find ways for students, and how to implement it depends on the management of each apartment building.
Many universities in Northeast China do not have air conditioners or fans. Students complain about the heat and even have to set up tents outside. It is also difficult to find a room in the surrounding hotels. But the school’s response seems to be stable, either mung bean soup, summer quilts, or waiting for the next plan and arrangement, which is a bit slow. In the hot summer, children can’t eat or sleep well. How difficult is it to install air conditioners that everyone calls for?
I believe that many people have the impression that the summer in the north, especially in the northeast, is relatively cool, and the demand for air conditioning is not so strong. But in fact, high temperatures in the north have been common in recent years. Recently, data from the National Meteorological Station for nearly 60 years showed that the extreme high temperatures in most parts of my country have shown a significant increase trend, especially in the past three decades. Take Changchun as an example. On June 23, 24, and 25, the local area issued yellow high temperature warnings in succession.
Data will not lie, and students’ physical feelings will not be false. The Northeast, which has always been cool, is now hot and uncomfortable in summer. At this time, not only do netizens need to change their previous stereotypes, but schools should also take more positive actions, face students’ concerns directly, and truly care about students’ well-being. Laying a bed on the ground in the playground, setting up a tent in the corridor, using ice or fans that are not affected by the power outage in the dormitory may partially alleviate the sultry heat, but it is not a fundamental solution. If this causes health and even personal safety problems, it is also an unprovoked disaster.
With the development of the times, air conditioners have long been “into ordinary people’s homes” and have become a standard in people’s daily lives. They are not scarce, let alone expensive. Schools should have a minimum understanding of this and put this matter on the agenda as soon as possible.
According to media reports, some students from Northeastern universities reported that the suggestion to install air conditioners in dormitories has been raised for many years, but it has not been implemented. Some staff members of Northeastern universities said that the school also wanted to install air conditioners, but the circuit was aging. The school has upgraded and improved the circuit on campus, but the power grid lines outside the school cannot support it and need to be upgraded and renovated. This inevitably makes people wonder, where is the bottleneck of this livelihood issue?
Some netizens in the relevant message area also think that today’s college students are “hypocritical”, this little heat is nothing, the heat will pass in a few days, and they didn’t have air conditioners when they were in school, etc. Objectively speaking, these arguments are not worth refuting, and it is not excessive for students to want air conditioners in dormitories. First, the climate is warming, and the “hot weather day and night” makes summers in the north and south difficult to endure; secondly, there is no need to endure hardships, and today’s children don’t have to suffer again. Always saying “how hard it was for us back then” is not only pedantic, but also not the right way to communicate.
In fact, not all Northeastern universities are “hot”. One Northeastern university posted a “full screen” of air conditioners, and student dormitories, teaching buildings, libraries, gymnasiums, etc. are all equipped with air conditioners. Under the current conditions, schools troubled by high temperatures may wish to extend the opening of public spaces such as air-conditioned teaching buildings and libraries for students to cool off; at the same time, they should also act quickly to start the installation of air conditioners in student dormitories.
As long as the school is “student-oriented” and truly takes students’ needs to heart, it will always get things done without having to “look around and talk about other things”.
