Pushing, shoving, bumping, yelling, fighting, and screaming � a familiar scene in the hallways during passing periods.
Over the past few years, enrollment of students has gone down, yet the problem of overcrowded hallways has seemingly gotten worse. During the few minutes between each period every day, students are forced to move slowly through the narrow hallways like herded cattle. This leads to inadvertent pushing and shoving, which often escalates into minor arguments or full-blown physical fights.

However, the problem has nothing to do with the students, but with the way the hallways are designed. They are extremely narrow, and considering the number of students that attend the school, do not provide enough stairways to ease the congestion. Some of the hallways also have student lockers on both sides, which further constrict the space for walking.
Teny Nazari (�07) agrees that the hallways are overcrowded.
�By the time I get to my locker, lunch is over,� said Nazari.
She also added that it does not help when students stop to chat with friends in the hallways during �rush hour.� It only adds to the already bad traffic.
Another problem is that in the old building, the doorways open up right into the walking space of students. As one could imagine, students often bump into these doors when they are flung open too quickly, slowing down traffic even more.
Unfortunately, making the hallways wider is not on the district�s agenda. Most likely, the future renovations for Glendale High�s Moyse Stadium and other areas at Hoover would not allow for enough money to be spent on improving the hallways. However, if the district was willing to pay the price, there are several fairly simple renovations that they could implement to solve this nagging problem.
The area around the bridges that connect the old and new building is where the major �traffic jams� always seem to occur. These bridges are the only way to get from one building to another on the upper floors; thus, when the bell rings, dozens of students converge on this spot and madness ensues.
To solve the problem, the district should build more of these bridges that connect the two buildings. This renovation might cost a lot of money but would be worth it because it would ease the congestion in that particular area of the school and significantly reduce the crowded hallway problem.
Another small renovation would be to add some more staircases to be dispersed all over the school. This would have the same positive effect as the bridges and would give students more options for routes to take to class.
However, it is unlikely that the district would be willing to fork over any more money. It is apparent that students� welfare is second on the district�s list of priorities, after the school�s appearance.

by staff writer: Joe Welsh