On March 25, the headline story sung the praises of the Goosinator, a device used to humanely encourage geese to move away from campus.

Now, I think everyone can agree that navigating through goose-poop land mines on the way to class or fleeing from a territorial goose protecting its nest is not at the top of any students’ list as we walk to class; however, I do think it is fairly ridiculous that the school paid $3,500 for a glorified motorized pool floatie.

Instead, the school should have challenged a few engineering students to build a similar device and assign it as a project.

Not only does the school save $3,500, but it sparks creativity and ingenuity among students. With just a simple push, NIU could have a fleet of creative and functional Goosinators around campus.

Inevitably, students will be able to pick out their favorites around campus, sparking nicknames, jokes and ultimately serving as inspiration for the following year’s installment of the NIU Goosinator Design Challenge.