As I packed my bag for the weekend, my roommate disgustingly asked why I was going home again.

"You go home every weekend," she said. "You're such a suitcase college kid."

And she was right. Back when I was a freshman, I went home every weekend.

I made the two-and-a-half hour commute partly because I had a boyfriend there and partly because I was still in close contact with my high school friends.

One of the main reasons, however, was that there was nothing to do in Ruston.

We're all adults, so let's admit it.

Ruston is a suitcase college.

Some people are offended by that. Faculty, students and Ruston residents cringe at the phrase.

But honestly, they have to know.

The food services, excluding the cafeteria, shut down at 2 p.m. Friday and don't open again until Monday morning.

Now, there's nothing wrong with cafeteria food. In fact, it provides quite a unique atmosphere. Nowhere else can you find a group of people your age, half asleep in pajamas with greasy hair, eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch at 4:30 in the afternoon.

I, however, have spent the last three years trying to earn enough credit hours to get the senior meal plan, which basically says I never have to eat in the cafeteria again.

Being a senior now, I have earned the right not to have to eat day-old artificial eggs on the weekends.

But there's no other choice!

Food is a necessity at this point in a college kid's life, but it's not the only thing.

The Bookstore and the Post Office are closed on weekends. I hope nobody was expecting a package or needed a Scantron for an 8 a.m. Monday test.

Students aren't even given the same opportunities to study on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as they are during the week.

Prescott Memorial Library closes at 11 p.m. weekdays. Fridays, however, it closes at 5 p.m. It doesn't open until 1 p.m. Saturdays and closes at 6 p.m. Sundays.

So much for waiting until Sunday night to finish that research paper.

The Maxie Lambright Intramural Sports Center should be commended for recently extending its weekend hours.

The old hours limited students to three hours of workout time on Saturday, from 1 to 4 p.m.

Now the Intramural Center is open from 2 to 7 p.m. Saturdays. They also extended the Friday and Sunday hours.

Good job over there, guys.

Honestly though, anyone who has ventured onto campus on a Saturday can see that it is absolutely dead.

It changes from a thriving community Thursday afternoon to a ghost town Friday night.

Students are forced into Monroe or Shreveport for entertainment, and a lot of them live there anyway so of course they go home.

I don't go home every weekend anymore. But when I'm here, I find myself sleeping past noon and watching television for the rest of the day.

Sometimes I visit other friends who have stayed in town. In those cases I lounge on their couches and watch TV with them. Now that's stimulation.

The truth hurts sometimes.

Nobody can really be offended when people call Tech a suitcase college, because when you look at the facts, we really are.

If this bothers you, do something about it.

Instead of four or five, let's work to keep campus alive seven days a week.

Heidi Hausmann is a senior journalism major from Opelousas and serves as editor for The Tech Talk.