Too Close for Comfort

The Hemlock Suites. Photo Credit / Amy Lukac
The Hemlock Suites. Photo Credit / Amy Lukac
The Hemlock Suites.
Photo Credit / Amy Lukac

By Richard MacTough
SC Staff Writer

With ESU’s recent increase in enrollment, finding space for all the incoming resident students is proving to be an issue.

The question being raised in an attempt to solve the issues is should students, freshman in particular, be paired with two other roommates?

A solution such as this, however, raises many additional questions. What should the terms of pricing be? Should Resident Advisors be required to have a roommate to make space?

Freshman are the newest set of students, which means they are usually less privileged. Why? Simply because upper classmen have been attending college longer and are more likely by then to put a lot of time and effort into their education.

It is a classic cycle that should not be changed. As a freshman moves up a level, they will receive more privileges. Who should be forced in a triple room, a new student, or a prior student who has already received credits? The answer is obviously the new student.

It is an issue, however, for students to be billed the same amount for living in a double room with two other roommates. The room becomes more cramped with less free space, but the cost is still the same.

A double or triple room costs approximately $2686. A triple room resident should be paying half since they are not getting the same benefits of spacing.

Resident Advisors work hard and do extra to keep a room to themselves. They shouldn’t have to share with another roommate. It can be a distraction on their heavy workload and negatively impact them academically. Many go out of their ways for peers when the pay amount does not justify extra tasks.

I remember that I was assisted by my RA and helped to the hospitals various times. The question is, should they get a double bedroom to themselves?

Instead of giving them a room that can fit two, they should be assigned single rooms. This way, they get privacy they earned, and the rooming process is a little bit easier on the other students.

The faculty should consider getting rid of the lounges in traditional resident halls since they are rarely used. I remember walking by the room and rarely seeing it being used. The ground floor lounges are really the only ones needed.

Sorting it that way, would save the organization troubles in waitlisting desperate students looking for a place to stay. This is an issue that can be resolved and is fair for each student.

Email Richard at:
rmactough@live.esu.edu