Early last week, after the announcement of the room and board rate hike, and as if to add insult to spectacular injury, residents of Crockett Hall received a letter from the coordinator responsible for our dormitory. It regarded the vandalism of the card-swipe machine in the laundry room, the deposition of garbage at the end of the halls, vomiting in the bathrooms, and several other minor infractions. We were informed that unless someone came forward to take responsibility for disconnecting the wires to the card-swipe reader, the entire hall would be charged. We were further informed that when someone had done an estimate, the repairs for the washing machines would be done at an indeterminate point in the future.
But below the surface of this seemingly pedestrian problem lie several deeper ones. To my knowledge, public safety was never contacted, and no investigation was conducted. Also, most residents I’ve spoken with believe that no one in Crockett (drunk or otherwise) would bother with such a pointless form of vandalism. The going theory is that it’s a party unknown to the hall. It’s no mystery that it’s easy to follow anyone going into their dorm with little effort.
Furthermore, due to our RFID card system, I’m unable to do laundry elsewhere—unless I go in behind someone else, that is. Several people in my hall haven’t done laundry since the card reader broke­—call it laziness, but there is a serious smell building up here! When something breaks, you would expect that someone from FIXX could come over and take care of it. Due to the absence of wiring charts for the highly proprietary card-swipe system, however, repair becomes a debacle requiring expensive external personnel.
I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Jackson regarding this situation at the Pizza with the President event. She agreed that clearly, each hall exists as a community, responsible for its actions. ResLife could not make insurance claims on every act of vandalism—costs would go up anyway. In perspective, I am paying about $600 per month to share a 10x10 room with a roommate and share a bathroom with 26 other people. The cleaning, maintenance, and laundry are all extra—at least when ResLife thinks it should be. My solution to the problem is simple—laundry should be free. If the machines are rented, it’s a waste of money because laundry machines don’t change very much and we have our own maintenance personnel. If we bought them, they would have been paid off long ago.
I really can’t wrap my mind around why leaving cardboard boxes at the end of the hall or vomit in the toilet is a monetarily-enforcable offense—we pay RPI $600 per month (rising each passing year) for many services. I thought those services included more than a bed, desk, chair, and RA. When ResLife is feeling generous, it also includes the use of their bathroom, garbage pail, and laundry (for a fee).
If someone makes a mess in the bathroom—I hate it as much as the person that needs to clean it—but for the price we pay, we’re entitled to a bathroom to use for whatever we damn well please.
Implicit in the exorbitant amount RPI charges us for housing is, I’m sure, an assumption that college-aged people are high-maintenance in terms of stress to the physical plant and waste disposal. It’s time that ResLife stops hiring more staffers to keep students in line and start providing the services that are part of their mandate, and their responsibility to those who are paying their salaries.
