UMASS PROTEST- Sign this petition!!

[UnixFreak]

Read:

The University of Massachussetts in Dartmouth has been subject to protests from angry students for the entire evening. Under a rash new plan in the school's ongoing struggle for a better housing situation, many students will be losing their on-campus housing. All night, a mob of as much as 300 students marched through the campus, chanting their protests. The specifics of the proposed plan are as follows, courtesy of Klatu:
The Proposed Plan:

1) New freshman and returning sophomores get first pick at the Dell and the Res. halls.

2) Juniors get the rest (lottery details are still unknown at this time...), but not all are guaranteed to get in. * Chances that Juniors will get housing VERY minimal

3) No squatters rights at all...(Only current Freshman living in A rooms, or Quads, will be aloud to squat their rooms for next year, but those are guaranteed to be forced triples.)

4) NO seniors will be aloud to live on campus at all.

5) Anyone that lives within a 30 minute radius of the school will be declined housing.



You may be asking what the school can do to change the plan? The eventual end we are hoping for includes freshman being denied housing to the campus, or put on a lottery. The majority of freshman on a college campus drop out within the first year. Why should we guarantee them housing when hard working students are in educational home stretch? A substantial amount of students live within 30 miles of the campus. Why should they be given housing when it would be much more logical for them to commute? Overcrowding has been an issue for years, but the campus seems to avoid or delay the construction of a new housing complex. The new plan is said to go into full swing on Wednesday March 15. The only way the plan will be altered is through peaceful but loud protests from the students. Our voices must be heard.


I will be a senior this fall, and I am appaled that the university has rewarded my three years of hard effort with a forceful push out of the apartment I call home. Looking forward to my senior year, I, like many, was hoping to obtain a full suite with my friends, so that I can enjoy being young and having fun before the rigors of office life takes these opportunities away. I feel I have earned this for my hard work at this institution. Having been a sophomore, I can understand their anger as well. I had gotten excited about a possible dell apartment as a junior since I had begun coming to this school. Having the opportunity snatched away so close to the time for squatting deposits and dell lotteries must be heartbreaking.


Tonight, I have seen something truly amazing. Hundreds of students joined together for a like cause to fight against losing their homes. And chanting and marching were only the beginning. Later this morning, at 8:00 there will be a mass protest in front of the Foster Administration building in order to let the chancellor know how we feel about being in school and homeless. The same night, there will be a student senate meeting at the commuter cafeteria at 5:30. Both of these will be events where the students can voice their opinions on the matter. All night, I had seen an energy and anger in the eyes of all the students. Hold onto that energy for the days to come; the protest has only begun.

Tim Clark

SIGN: Online Petition

 

[UnixFreak]

~~Shameless Bump~~

 

[happykitten]

Sorry to sound so harsh, but...

This is just PATHETIC. Grow some balls and STOP WHINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm definitely not going to sign the petition; personally, I think it's ridiculous.

At the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), they successfully run a similar policy to the one you're so ridiculously opposed to: juniors and seniors are basically kicked out of the dorms to find their own housing, which most of actually them look forward to (most people get sick of the dorms after two years!). It's unfair to limit the amount of housing available to freshmen... I mean, come on, where else are they going to live?! Freshmen should be GUARANTEED housing... how unwelcoming would it be if they were denied a place to live their first semester off at school?

You mention "the majority of freshmen drop out the first year." What are the actual numbers on that? I'm not saying you're lying, I just find that statistic very hard to believe. But, regardless of whether or not they decide to drop out, they shouldn't be denied a place to live before they even do!! How illogical is that?! "Hi, we think you might drop out your first year here, so we're going to deny you housing."

Your other arguments also have a number of flaws. You say:



<< A substantial amount of students live within 30 miles of the campus. Why should they be given housing when it would be much more logical for them to commute? >>



Uhhhh... okay, first of all, there's a BIG difference between living at home and living at school, even if home is just 30 minutes or an hour away. In order to grow both personally and socially, it's important for many college students to seek independence by leaving home and living in the dorms at school. A lot of my friends back at U of M lived 30 or 45 minutes away from the University, yet they chose to reside in the dorms for the full &quot;college experience.&quot; I think it's very naive, shallow, and ignorant of you to even offer that as justification for your petition.

Bottom line: By the time you're a junior/senior, you should be familiar enough with the surrounding area to scout out a house or an apartment. You should also be mature enough to handle the responsibility of living &quot;on your own,&quot; paying rent, etc.

If the plan passes, suck it up and deal with it.

 

[bcterps]

Why would I sign this petition if I didnt go to UMass? In fact, posting this here is pretty useless. First of all, what if all Anandtech Forum members signed your peitition? We dont go to UMass, we dont care if students are forced out of housing, and I'm sure there isnt a homeless student problem at UMass.

I can understand if you're upset, but to ask people to sign your petition is useless.

--Ben

 

[UnixFreak]

Well, excuse the heck out of me.

 

[poop]

I think it blows, dude. I won't sign it, though, seeing as how I go to a different school.

Housing should be first come, first serve. That is it. For some, on-campus housing is where they like to live. Being forced to move out because you are a senior is stupid.

I don't think your &quot;most drop out&quot; statement is founded, though. The national graduation rate is around 40%, I think. You can be pretty sure that 30% or so do drop out the firt year, but I don't think it is above 50%.

EDIT:
What about exchange students? My university has a high percentage of foreign grad students. They are from out of country, and on campus housing is nice for them. It is irrational to expect a student from half way around the world to set up an apartment.

 

[Turkey]

All your base are belong to underclassmen?

Yeah, that's a pretty f'd policy. People who want to live on campus should have the option to. Here, the policy is that students must stay in the dorms until they're 21 or they have some &quot;special reason,&quot; which is also pretty f'd. The only things keeping me in the dorms are the high speed internet connection and the convenience of a dining hall so I don't have to cook. If I could get those two things off campus I would have found &quot;special reasons&quot; about two years ago .

 

[yobarman]

I agree with happykitten. Grow some balls dude and get out there on your own. No one's going to baby you your whole life. Go find an apartment and live with a friend or two. It's probably cheaper and whole lot funner seeing how you can make your own rules up. Dayum.

 

[UnixFreak]

It is not me who lives there, I was quoting someone. I am trying to help out a freind. I think this is unfair, and another example of an administration putting money over people, let the new ones come in and flop down thier cash, and throw the others to the dogs, they are already &quot;locked in&quot; and they dont have to worry. How would you feel if you went to a restaurant, ordered your meal, and 15 minutes later, the place gets full, and you are told to leave, to make room for a new customer who just showed up. You would be furious. But we are talking about a place to live here, and it is no different.

 

[vi edit]

Ummm....

My college did this to us, and you know what, WE REJOICED!. Under the old rules You either had to be senior status or 21 years of age to live off campus. Under the new rules, all you had to be was a junior and you could move off of campus.

It's cheaper, it's roomier, it's more fun, and you don't have to put up with the mickey mouse rules that college dorms require you to follow.

As far as thinking that seniors should get rooms over freshman, that's complete and utter bullsh!t. Have you even gone to college? I RA'd for my dorm for a year durning my Junior year. I had 90% freshman on board. Half of them didn't even know where the nearest fast food joint was let alone a grocery store or the utility companies. Then figure in that you don't even know your way around campus for at least a couple weeks and the fact that you have yet to find a job to support your living expenses, it's pretty ridiculous to expect incomming freshman to have all of this set up before they even get on campus.

I think the school is wrong in presenting as they did, but come on, the freshman are THE LAST class of students that should be forced off of campus.

 

[Stark]

You're a senior and you WANT to live on campus? Are you crazy?

I rented with friends throughout college. I tried the dorms one year after transferring to a small liberal arts college, and that's about as much as I could handle.

 

[misle]

I've never lived on campus (thank God!). I couldn't stand staying at my ex-girlfriend's dorm. I do believe that new student, especially new to the city, should get student housing before Seniors who have lived there for a couple years.

FYI: It's 'allowed' not 'aloud', I'm not flaming you, I just though you might want to change it.

Matt

 

[Wah]

freshman should definately get housing. everyone else should lottery for it.

 

[Azraele]

I think that's a bit harsh. It sounds to me like the campus has accepted too many students and can't provide adequate housing for them. They get the tuition money, and the students aren't even guaranteed a place to live. Students definately have the right to protest if they feel something the college is doing in unfair. It may be discovered otherwise, but they certainy have the right to be concerned. How many of those kicked off campus have cars? Is there a transportaion system available for those who get housing off campus who do not have cars? How many housing options are there available offcampus? Of those, how many have vacancies? How many have the income to support all the bills an apartment would generate, and of those that have the income, how much study time is the job that's paying those bills taking up? The students who might lose campus housing have a right to be worried. So far, the college hasn't done anything (from what was said) to make the policy transition easier for students.

HappyKitten: I think your response is especially harsh, yelling imo was not warranted.

 

[eakers]

instead of typing my reply
please go and reready happykitten;s post.

grow up, if you are a senior in college you are in your 20s, you should be able to live on your own as apposed to an 18 year old who has probley never been away from their parents at all.

*kat. <-- agrees with happykittens post.

 

[TuffGuy]

hk is pretty much on the money. ucla's the same way. deal with it. the world is becoming overpopulated, and more and more students are attending college/university than before. so more and more students HAVE to be let it. housing becomes a secondary issue, and on-campus housing tried their best to accomodate everybody. and &quot;independence&quot; is a huge part of growing up and finding yourself, which is why freshmen and sophomores have priority.

stop acting like a bunch of babies and deal with it.

Miss Saigon - Last Night Of The World

 

[Ladi]

I seem to recall UMass being in a major city or at least a college town...How hard is it to find housing if you really look?

AND keep in mind that there's a reason tuition and room&amp;board are separate fees. The college/university isn't stealing your money until they take room&amp;board and then tell you to live off-campus.

In many instances, sharing rent with a few other people is cheaper or equal to paying for a room on-campus. And certainly (unless you use your mealplan to its fullest extent), food is probably MUCH cheaper (around here, if your meal plan is broken down, you pay ~$7 for breakfast, $10-12 for dinner...No way a grocery store/homemade meal cost NEARLY as much...and not most fast food either). You can also probably get a limited meal plan that you might actually finish off instead of having tons of meals/money left over at the end of the semester. If your parents are paying for your college expenses, chances are they would pay rent as well if it cost the same and no on-campus housing was available. If you're already paying for everything yourself, this could be a godsend in terms of finances. Many people work full- or part-time and go to school anyways...it can be done successfully if you manage your time appropriately. The work experience will be priceless after graduation when you need a job to support yourself.

Also, most colleges that allow for students to live off-campus provide services to help with landlord/rent issues and anything else you may run into living 'on your own' -- it's a resource that's hard to find/get in the 'real world.' They may even provide listings of places to live and other resources.

In other words? You can certainly live off-campus with minimal hassle if you give it a good shot.

Ohyeah...and you're in college. Learn how to spell allowed and how to use capitalization (The Proposed Plan). If you want to write an open letter that REALLY makes an impact, use solid facts and numbers with citations, then CC it to administration and the local/campus newspapers.

~Ladi

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Leaving aside all the issues that have been posted above (with which I largely agree - I LOVED living with friends in college), how is it going to do any good for a bunch of online persons, identified only by aliases and with no connection to U Mass, to sign a petition that seems very specifically targeted at a concern unique to U Mass upperclassmen?

If anything I would argue that it undermines the integrity and effectiveness of a petition to have a peck of totally disinterested people signing off on it.