Officials claim combining the health services currently at Olin and the Clinical Center will eliminate duplicate services, creating savings for the university.

We’re just not sure the move will be worth it for students.

The big question with moving Olin to Service Road is whether the new health center will be readily available to students.

Most freshmen on campus walk or ride their bikes. The closest dorms to the proposed new location for health services are Hubbard and Akers halls and they aren’t exactly next door.

Frankly, we don’t really see many negative factors to the present location of health services. It is near a majority of dorms. Its location right off Grand River Avenue is ideal for students who live in the nearby neighborhoods. Bus routes make it easily accessible, continuously dropping students off in the area.

Everyone has been sick before. The last thing you want to do is leave the comfort of your bed when you are ill.

Olin, as it stands, is near many classes and is easily accessible. When you are sick, that’s all you can ask for. If the center is moved, how many students will make the long trek?

Those in Brody Complex will end up the farthest away from the new health services after the move. When a student in that dorm falls ill, will they make the journey to Service Road to receive attention and medication or will they try to self-medicate?

This can be an extremely important issue in the case of major illnesses.

What happens if a student contracts meningitis, swine flu or even the regular flu?

It’s possible an ill student who can’t muster the strength to make the trip will stay in his or her dorm. If this happens, how many of the students they encounter in the dorm will catch the same illness?

Putting aside health concerns, we do wonder exactly how much the university will save by making the move.

Bus routes will also have to be altered to take sick students out to the new health center, which is an added cost.

Even if the money saved is significant, we question what the university will do with the Olin building after the move. Tear it down?

Losing the Olin building only will diminish the unique historic architecture of this university. Will it be replaced with a modern-looking steel building?

It remains to be seen how moving the health center to the south side of campus would make services more available and what actions the university will take to make the long-distance travel more convenient for students.

The most important question is, what does this move actually give back to the students?