Consider the case of Room no 1 in the Faculty of Arts. It's perfect for the 80-odd students who enroll in the first year. And for the less-than-80 who attend the compulsory English classes here. The problem arises during examinations, when almost double the number are made to squeeze into the 80 seats.

Or take the case of the women's toilets. There are nearly 15,000 woman students in faculties in the main campus and all of three toilets, one each in the Arts, Science and Commerce faculties. Though each department also has its respective toilet, they are only for the staff or post-graduate students.

The toilet in the Arts faculty -- the one with the highest concentration of woman students, incidentally -- is a recent addition. Students, thus, were compelled to use the staff toilet. Not all teachers liked the idea, according to Bharati Parmar, an M.Phil student. ``A Sociology teacher once told me very pointedly that there was a notice on the toilet door stating `Strictly for staff''', she says.

The situation would be laughable, perhaps, if the consequences were not so grave. There is obviously the health aspect: So many students, so few toilets, so either some students avoid using the toilet, or all students use the toilets. Either way, the result is unhealthy.

There is another aspect. ``Sometimes, we students miss class because we have to use the toilet in another faculty or go back to their hostels'', says Parmar.

If students are meant to grin and bear such basic inadequacies, what can one say of the shortcomings of the laboratories, where science students are supposed to test their theoretical knowledge? Even Bonny Pilo, dean of the Science faculty, admits that the state of the pipes and instruments leave a lot to be desired.

Though there has been no mishap yet, it's only a question of time at the Botany department laboratory. The gas pipeline refuses to be switched off; as a result inflammable gas is forever pouring into the laboratory. One careless matchstick and an inferno would result.

There's more. Roofs leak in a number of rooms, particularly in the old buildings. Precious books and journals in the central library are often mere shells, their pages neatly cut away. Sometimes catalogued books are altogether untraceable, swiped by students too lazy to take notes. This despite the fact that students are checked before and after their library jaunts.

The litany of MSU's woes may be endless, but none of them are new. Students and union leaders have taken up the issues from time to time, as have the faculties themselves. Their representations faced one insurmountable stumbling block: funds. Pilo, too, says, the University Grants Commission amount for laboratory upgradation is simply not enough to replace everything at once.

So, in the midst of the gloom, the cheers for good work should be double. And good work has been done: the faculty of Science and a few departments of the Faculty of Technology were recently cleaned and whitewashed, perking up the spirits of their students. Parking space was also demarcated at the faculties of Education and Psychology and Technology.

With a new vice-chancellor at the helm, many hope these steps will show the way to further improvement. Anil Kane himself admits there are many shortcomings on campus, adding that as a first step, they were expending the amount raised as developmental fees to the cause they were meant for. ``This corpus will be first invested in creating basic facilities like drinking water and toilets for students'', he adds.

Kane ends on a cryptic note: The facilities at the campus are adequate, but the number of students was greater. That's an equation the university's mathematicians should try and figure out.