To The Editor:
I am writing this letter in response to Amin Siad's article entitled, "To Dorm or Not to Dorm," in Monday's issue (Oct. 29). I feel that it not only did an injustice to students that live on campus because of the lack of journalistic integrity, I find it hard to believe that The Spectrum could entitle an article, "To Dorm or Not to Dorm," which seems to be filled with reasons not to "dorm." This article obviously reported Siad's opinion on on-campus life. I believe that a good newspaper reports the news and not their opinion.
I would like to ask why the Residence Hall Association was never contacted for this article. It makes sense to me that if The Spectrum were going to write an article about living on campus, they would contact the student government that represents students living on campus. I would think that someone such as myself that deals with the issues of living on campus would be an excellent source.
It is very apparent that the article was extremely biased. There were only two people interviewed that were in favor of living on campus, one of which was not even a student. Siad, however, seems to have gone out of his way to find numerous students that do not like campus life. I would bet that there are thousands of students that live on campus that truly enjoy it. The university does not require anyone to live on campus, and it has been at over capacity at the beginning of the year for the past two years.
I would first like to point out that while the costs of living on campus may be high as compared to living off, the actual costs of on-campus living were very misconstrued. While it may only cost $450 a month to live off campus, these students are not getting near the amount of services that residents of South Lake, Flint, or Hadley receive for their monthly rent. For the roughly $100 extra that a student pays to live in a comparable campus apartment on campus, I feel they receive more than $100 in amenities. Central air, free washer and driers, and free high-speed Internet access to name a few. Not to mention that if you live in an apartment on campus, you do not need to look for a parking space every day. I am sure that not driving to campus everyday, and then driving around for 30 minutes for a parking space, will reduce your monthly bills.
While living in the residence halls may appear to be very expensive, it is worth the money (roughly $1,800 a semester for a double). What would you be willing to pay to live in the same building as a library that you can use for studying, dining facilities, workout facilities, free washers and dryers, and job opportunities? There is also support staff that not only cleans the bathrooms twice a week, but also makes any necessary repairs.
The prices at CVS do not reflect a monopoly on groceries, they reflect the fact that CVS is a small store and is in no way a large store like Tops. I do, however, think that CVS's prices are very competitive with other stores its size. I think the article even pointed out that orange juice at CVS is over $1.50 cheaper than orange juice at Tops.
In closing, I would also add that I did not appreciate the comment about the students that live in the residence halls not all being clean. Siad was not reporting news, he was trying to grab readers and further his biased view. It is true that some people are not as clean as others; however, they can be found everywhere. I ask that you apologize to all of the students that you offended.
Editor's Note: The reference to dorm cleanliness was culled from a student quote, not the direct words of the Spectrum reporter.
