Hearing the irritating noise of wannabe Beethoven playing the piano and seeing the isolated herds of people playing who-can-sit-by-their-tables popularity contests can be damaging to my soul.

With that, I zoom past the cafeteria with lightning speed. So who, in this collage of diners, has my sympathy? None other than the colorful and expressive gamers and fantasy-card players located at the upper level of the dining hall.

If one were to enter into their domain, they would see a corroding ceiling leaking with water. What could have caused this erosion? My curiosity led me to room B-105, where a 28-year-old custodian named Steve claimed to know why.

Every two to three times a given semester, he is told to barricade the area with caution tape in order to clean the rugs soaked by the untouched leak. “It would save them more money if they just fixed the leak,” Steve said.

What also sickens my spirit is false promises from student governments, so I decided to skip my attention from the ASG to Kurt Enyedi, building and grounds facilities supervisor.

According to Enyedi, the 40-year-old membrane between the diner ceiling and the planters above the cafeteria has died and a new water proofing system is on its way.

Each year efforts are put into stopping the leak, but Enyedi insists that Propositions S and N will give the cafeteria the tune up it deserves. “We can’t rebuild the car (ceiling) anymore. We’ve got to get a new car,” he said.

I agree. If school legislation is not helping school problems, then a state solution is in order.

I dare ASG to ask Azrael Daniels, 21, Film/Video productions and screenwriting major, what versatile meaning the upper deck has for him. They would probably get this answer: “The library is too quiet. Sometimes I’m not working. Sometimes I just want to socialize with people (there).”

The upper deck is for all students and anyone can use that space. However, if ASG does not look for problems to solve or receive complaints, then hazards like this could block all students from enjoying the upper-level cafeteria.

Gabriel Roberts is a City Times staff writer and illustrator