As we move closer and closer to the brilliant oasis that is spring break, it's important to recognize on all of the important developments that have occurred at UVA this semester. Our basketball team is having a historically excellent season, our baseball team is off to a good start, and discussions regarding gun control have only grown in intensity around Grounds. But, painfully, one thing on Grounds has not changed this semester: those freaking stairs by Newcomb that, almost unimaginably, are still under construction.

For those of you who are confused at this point why I'm fixating an entire article on a set of stairs, well you probably don't go to UVA for one thing, but I'll bring you up to speed. There is a set of seemingly normal brick stairs by Newcomb Hall. They have been under construction since September. The original intent was supposedly just so the stairs could be refaced, but this has not yet been completed. No one knows why. What we do know is that the makeshift wooden stairway next to the real stairs floods every time it rains, creating puddles so large that not even the tallest of rain boots can effectively navigate them.

I have to say, not many sights instantly fill me with rage except the appearance of a Grayson Allen tripping compilation in my "Recommended YouTube Videos," but I get angry every time I look at these unfinished stairs. They represent institutional inefficiency at its finest, and I have many, MANY questions about the nature of this particular construction project. For one thing, how on God's given earth could any construction project solely involving stairs take over six months to complete? I'm pretty sure that any competent construction crew could build an entire house in less than six months. They'd scoff at the idea of refacing a set of stairs in that amount of time.

And another thing, how is it that I NEVER see anyone working on these stairs? They sit there day after day in an unfinished state, while the makeshift wooden stairway next door slowly rots away from unexpected use. I'm pretty sure I can count on one hand the amount of times I've actually seen people within the mysterious tarped confines of this construction site.

Finally, I would love to know how much this interminable project has cost the University up to this point. There's no way that the incredible length of this project has not made it much more expensive than was originally projected. I really hope that there is not a portion of the University's endowment exclusively allotted for "construction projects that become conspiracy theories," which, to me, is what this is.

I can just faintly remember the first time I saw the construction crew building the "temporary" wooden walkway next to Newcomb last fall, and thinking, "wow, isn't it great that UVA is taking steps to build a walkway and become more wheelchair accessible! So progressive!" How wrong I was. This walkway was not wheelchair accessible, and certainly does not seem temporary. It's as much a part of the UVA landscape as the Whispering Wall, Clemons Library, and the perpetual line outside Chick-Fil-A in the Pav.

At this point, I'll be surprised if the real stairs by Newcomb ever see the light of day again. If they do, I think there should be an official ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate, filled with enough pomp and circumstance to rival the Royal Wedding. UVA students have been quietly, or maybe loudly, stewing about this ridiculous construction project for months, and I really hope that it does not take until our next Bicentennial celebration for this project to finally, FINALLY, be finished.