Now that the school semester is beginning, many students will want to know what is happening around campus. Specifically, what transpired over the summer that is worth noting. Therefore, this article will discuss the top five things all MST students need to know.

The first thing students should be aware of is the master plan. I highly recommend you read the handout and look at the maps. There are many things that they want to change and add. The most important things worth noting is that they want to add a parking structure across Bishop from Havener with a sky bridge connecting the two buildings as well as expanding Havener. Granted this is a very long-term project, but the more the student body pushes for these things, the higher priority they get. This year will be very focus group intensive revolving around a lot of big decisions the campus needs to make.

The second big thing students should know about is that the dining services contract expires at the end of this year. The campus is already actively requesting bids for the next 10 YEAR CONTRACT. Given the fact that Missouri S&T is typically a 5-year degree school, you should be very invested in this because this will be the food you will be eating for the next 5 years. It has already been confirmed that students will be asked what they want in a dining service (Chik-Fil-A) so make sure that you get out there and voice your opinion.

If you didn't notice, the dorms formerly known as "The RC", (University Commons) are now open and this brings us to the 3rd thing to know. Students are currently living in them. However, the one thing that was still not included in the new dorms was a dining facility, so Havener just got even more cramped. That being said, University Commons is getting something during this semester that has a lot of students excited. University Commons (UC) will be getting a 24-Hour convenience store. The scale and selection of items are still unknown, but an educated guess says that it will be similar to the size and selection of a gas station. Given the fact that nothing on the campus stays open past 11pm and not everyone has a car, this is ultimately a great decision by the campus. All this being said it will be interesting to see how these new dorms affect the other living communities such as the TJ dorms, CCF, and Greek Life.

The 4th thing to note is that the building across from Centennial Hall that used to house Campus Perk was bought by the campus and renovated for student housing. That being said, rather than waste an already built commercial space, the campus decided to utilize the space and bring in an outside vendor. The chain is called Au Bon Pain, and, to put it simply, it's very similar to a Panera Bread Co, just more condensed. Personally speaking, I'll probably try it, but I'm a loyal fan of Giddy Goat.

The 5th and final thing students should be aware of is that the fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) has begun construction of their new house on Frat Row between Beta Sigma Psi and Kappa Sigma. It is expected to be done by the end of the 2016-2017 academic year. It is always a big thing when a Greek Fraternity/ Sorority gets a new house because it usually boosts that house's rush numbers. On top of this, Frat Row is starting to become the main consolidated hub of a majority of the fraternities and hopefully, one day soon, it will start to become Greek Row.... I'm talking to you ZTA, Chi O, and KD.