The Trouble with Digital Media

I have only been an official Digital Media co-concentrator since the beginning of this year but I have always loved the area. I was urged at the end of last year by Johnathon Thurston, a DM department professor who's contract was not renewed but was not informed of this until more than half way through the year. He informed me that he feared next year the Digital Media department may not even exist for students to enter and that if I wanted to join, I should join right away. That has not been the case, the department still exists but for being in this major, I feel as if I am never actually in the DM labs. For anyone who doesn't know, the Digital Media labs are located on the third floor of Alumni Hall which is located directly across from the library. I may attend classes there, but when classes are not in session, it is nearly impossible to gain access to them. The lab is designated for DM students so they have a more private setting to do their work, specically for DM classes, rather than having to go to the computer center.
I am not exactly sure what time Alumni Hall is locked, but as early as 9pm, it is necessary to call public safety to let you into the building. Recently a friend, and fellow DM student, gained access to the lab at 9:30pm after being allowed in by a public safety officer. Once upstairs, there are two computer labs, each is locked with a key pad on the door. The codes used to be given out to each DM student so they could have easy access to do their work. However, this is no longer the case. My friend entered the lab and not five minutes later he stepped into the hallway to get a drink of water. When he tried to get back into the lab where he was working, he found himself locked out. He had to call public safety, once again, and the officer who arrived did not seem to believe he had obtained access to the lab correctly. My friend calmly tried to explain that he had already been let in by public safety but did not have the code to get back into the room. The officer told him he was letting him off the hook by giving him one more hour to his work. A DM project, almost no matter what it is, takes far more than an hour to complete, and I have been told in the past that the lab is open until 3am. The students who seem to work the hardest and work to the best of their ability seem to get the hardest time, especially from public safety.
This is not the first time something like this has happened. It has always been difficult to get into the lab to accomplish work. It was not even open over Interim making it near impossible for certain students to get their work done. There are certain programs and facilities that the lab has that the computer center does not. I do not see why I am paying all this money as well as a lab fee when I cannot even gain access to the place where my major is held to accomplish my work. The library, located directly across the way, is open until at least midnight. Granted, the library obviously has people monitoring it, but if this is the problem, perhaps monitors should be hired for the DM lab. Although I do not feel this is necessary, Albright does not seem to trust their students and does not seem to be attempting to come up with any other solutions. The DM labs are also always extremely warm and I was informed by my professor that this takes years off the life of the computers and yet the heat is never turned down. I have also experienced my work, which is saved on my account, being deleted and not being informed of this ahead of time. Thankfully, I have my work backed up but I know students who have lost hours of work.
I spoke to several alumni and this has been going on for over 5 years. They also told me that on several occasions they were forced to wait outside in the cold winter for over an hour. At this point, many students have given up on trying to get into the lab and therefore cannot fully accomplish their work or build the best portfolio possible. Many companies require knowledge of programs and equipment that Albright does not teach or have access to, making jobs difficult to obtain. Digital Media is suppose to modern and current but I am sad to say that my old high school has more and better equpiment than Albright College and that many of the operating systems here are out of date. Needless to say, as passionate as I am about what I do, I am continuously frusturated. The professors are wonderful and do the best with what they have but sometimes it is just not enough.