Students living in the Super 8 Motel on Flint Road have expressed concerns over the quality of their living conditions. Allegations of drug dealing, theft and poor treatment by motel employees are some of the issues raised by students. For the second year, the university has accepted students over the amount that they can house in residence halls and chosen to put them up in the Super 8. Although students last year had an overall positive experience, problems this year show that this arrangement is not an acceptable long-term solution. The university must either take action to relieve the overcrowding or reduce the number of students accepted.
Last year, 150 students were housed in the motel for the first time. Like most other universities, UB admits more people than residence halls can handle under the assumption that some will not choose to attend. The past two years UB had record freshman classes in terms of size, forcing students into the motel. When The Spectrum asked residence halls director Joe Krakowiak about the unique situation last year, he told us that he didn't think students would again be housed in the motel and claimed that the university was working to ensure that it did not happen.
Yet here we are one year later, with students in the Super 8. This year they have been there longer than previous students. How long they will continue to live there is unknown. Prospects do not look good, considering the university has been unable to move them thus far.
In the past Krakowiak has floated two plans to ease the housing crunch - temporary housing near the Ellicott Complex and the construction of the Lee Road project, which would include housing units. But President John Simpson has indefinitely postponed the Lee Road project, and there is no word on modular housing.
Students who are forced to live in motel rooms do so at their disadvantage. Access to meals, transportation, and other services is limited and the traditional campus experience is diminished. In an effort to provide a positive college experience to students the university should do everything possible to avoid housing students off-campus in the future.
In the meantime, extra-special attention should be paid to displaced students to be sure that their needs are being met. If these allegations have merit, the university does not have effective oversight in monitoring the situation. It would also show that the residence staff is not adequately ensuring acceptable living conditions.
The nature of the issues being reported show a systemic problem within motel management which is unsafe and improper for UB students. Arrests, unruly guests and rude staff would not be tolerated in residence halls and should not be tolerated in the motel.
The Department of Residence Halls and Apartments is charged with providing housing that promotes an academic environment through care and concern. Their website says their mission is "to provide comfort, responsiveness, cleanliness, safety, and concern for others." They are not fulfilling these goals in the case of motel housing. The university must either eliminate the need for overcapacity housing through reducing the number of accepted students or by building more residence halls.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
