Unless you've been living under a rock during your time at UD, you probably know that sense of community is important and prevalent on campus. It's one of our biggest selling points to interested students and something that sets UD apart from other universities nationwide.

One place this term could be tangible was at the KU Pub, where students, faculty and staff could unwind after a week of classes and socialize together. Now, that luxury has been taken away. As stated in this issue's article on the Pub closing, it is being shut down because of slow sales. Maybe instead of just closing it, they should look at the trend of how the sales were declining.

KU Pub has faced numerous restrictions that may have been major factors in why sales declined. For one, several years ago students were told they weren't allowed to play cards there. More recently the Pub made a switch from draft beer to canned beer. As these changes were occurring, the Pub's popularity was dwindling to the point it's at now, where it has to be shut down.

When alumni come back on campus to relive their old college days, they won't be able to visit their Friday afternoon hangout spot. When student organizations are looking for a safe place to host a fundraiser or event, the KU Pub is no longer the go-to place. And what may be one of the most disheartening things of all is that students who live in all different campus neighborhoods won't have that one central location to hang out anymore. The student union in the center of campus is convenient meeting grounds for most students, and a great way to keep this theme of community UD loves to boast about.

The biggest problem with the Pub closing isn't even the fact that it closed, but rather, the lack of communication to students that the Pub was closing. If Dining Services would have relayed to the UD community that a closing was iminent if sales did not increase, students, faculty and staff would have surely rallied behind the Pub to avoid this fate. Dining Services didn't make an effort to save the Pub, and now, one more aspect of what made UD unique has disapeared.