With an influx of incoming freshmen, some people are reporting issues of so-called “locker hogs”, people who interfere with the locker access of another student, and the entire school in general.

According to senior Tricia Block, “They probably don’t realize that someone’s locker is there and they just think it’s a nice place to hang out.  It involves all the grades, but lots of times underclassmen are a little more ignorant,” Tricia Block said.

Without a locker, I cannot comment much on this situation.  However, I do realize that lockers are necessary for some people who have a lot of textbooks, or who lack the physical strength to carry all their materials from place to place.  In this case, a locker hog is a major problem because they interfere with the student’s ability to get what they need, and they might end up late to class.  However, the “locker hogs” that Block has encountered are not as bad as they seem.

“If I ever ask someone to move they are always totally fine with it,” Block said.

In fact, the only problem that Block encountered involving her locker was not even related to these types of students.

“The only issue I’ve had with my locker was in my sophomore year. It flooded because it is a bottom locker so that was a bit of an issue,” Block said.

Locker hogs might not seem like a big deal to Block, but to senior Austin Walters they can become troublesome.

“They’re quite frustrating sometimes because you just need to get some stuff out and go and be somewhere but they end up being in the way so it can be frustrating but in the end it’s not a significant problem,” Walters said.

He sums up the concept of a locker hog as a person who “stand[s] there for like five minutes taking up space and not realizing that other people need to use the area.”

  However, senior Mitchell Lee says that the problem is because “they’re more concerned with their own needs.”  He finds the problem to be disturbing and according to him, switching lockers is only a viable solution for a certain group of people.  “People who play sports are not usually willing to switch lockers because they need to have an outside locker, but people with inside lockers may be willing to switch if they want your locker,” Lee said.

However, he also claims that this issue is “a people problem not a locker problem,” meaning that the locker hogs themselves are the problem and not the amount of lockers on campus.  Despite this, they appear to be a manageable problem, and I hope that the issue will be resolved soon enough.