I would like to thank students Justin Guillory and Eric Steinberg for their recent letter to the editor ("Some Students Argue Waiting for New Dorm Space Unfair to Many," March 28) in which they express frustration about the recontracting process for the new South Campus dorms.
At about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, after a full day of classes and work, I joined the long line of students waiting for the recontracting process to begin at 6 p.m. that evening. Technically, the process began Monday, as several students camped out at Morrison Residence Hall. Apparently, they had more time on their hands than most UNC students; however, it is not the students I disapprove of but the Department of Housing and their handling of the process.
I recently spoke with a writer for the DTH and said, "It's kind of unfair because people who skipped class or had no class got out here first. The rest of us are at a disadvantage." I stand behind my statement and Guillory and Steinberg who wrote, "We are disturbed that the housing department would schedule this process on a school day, encouraging missed classes."
My roommate and I were the last guys given housing in Ehringhaus-South; however, only single spaces were available. Since we have single spaces, we are now roomed with students who didn't request a roommate during the process. Hopefully, these gentlemen won't mind swapping rooms come August. While I'm pleased I have new housing, I can certainly empathize with those who don't and instead of simply venting about the process, I would like to offer constructive criticism on how the housing department should have filled these spaces:
As a member of the First-Year Initiative Program at Ehringhaus, I along with my fellow FYIers received a letter earlier in the semester informing us that we are unable to stay in our rooms for the 2002-03 school year. The housing department should have taken into consideration students participating in theme housing and students whose dorms will be under construction next year.
Since it is impossible to do the same-room recontracting, the only options for me and other students in this situation were to look into new housing or wait until late April to claim any available rooms. Those who've dealt with transitional housing this year or in previous years can attest that waiting too long to deal with housing matters is not a good idea and "guaranteed housing" (like racial preference in admissions) is a huge misconception at UNC.
For the future, the housing department should at least set a limit on the time students can begin waiting and choose a more conducive location for the recontracting process. It became a hassle for some students I spoke with who were told to move several times from their camping areas, perhaps for fire and other safety reasons. The line should have also been split up by gender, and this would have given students a more accurate gauge of their odds of securing a new room. Large amounts of trash were also left. I'd like to bet that no one from the housing department helped to clean the site but left the work to the Morrison custodial staff, who already have to clean up after 982 residents, 18 resident assistants and so forth.
Way to go Department of Housing! You're following in the footsteps (which aren't too hard to fill) of your role models in South Building by failing to seek student input, and that's the worst mistake you all can make.
