Dormitory
Smoking Policy In Discussion
by Chris Anton
The
Housing and Dining Comittee is now considering changes to smoke
free housing and less options in off-campus housing. At last weeks
housing and dining meeting, committee members brought a wide range
of living issues to the forefront of discussion. Assistant Dirctor
of Residential Life and Services, Sandra Houghland raised the off
campus junior limitation policy by announcing the statistics for
on campus life this year: 1882 students live on campus while 947
live off campus.
This year, 95 beds on campus are empty 47 in traditional
residence halls, 44 in program houses, and 4 in OSCA. Citing the
admission of a smaller first year class, as well as increasing pressure
from town residents, Houghland feels it is necessary and prudent
to once again initiate a lottery system to ensure that all on campus
spaces are filled and that students do not overcrowd the city of
Oberlin.
If you read the rules and regs, there is a junior limitation
policy in it that just has not been utilized in years past, because
weve never had to. Now it seems that were going to have
to implement the lottery again, Houghland said. In recent
years, virtually all juniors and seniors were granted off campus
status. If the lottery system is implemented, juniors will have
to vie for coveted off campus slots and may find themselves subjected
to another year in the dorms, or worse, having already signed a
lease that they will no longer be allowed to keep.
According to Rules and Regulations, in such instances a student
is liable for their room and board charges until they are officially
released to live off campus. Since landlords are rarely willing
to arbitrarily cancel a lease, a student who signs a premature lease
and is not released from on campus housing will find both a rent
bill from their landlord and a housing charge on their term bill.
Students are already out there signing leases for next year.
They have to ask themselves if they can afford to pay for two places
to live, Business Manager for the College, Todd Rasmussen
said. Often times, failure to adhere to the terms of a lease results
in the student being held legally accountable for the full cost
of the lease, whether or not they live in the residence.
The advice Residential Life staff has for next years juniors
is simple and direct. Just dont sign anything until
you know your housing status in March, Houghland said. She
fears that students might assume that the lottery system will not
be enforced because it hasnt in the recent past, which is
untrue. She also hopes that this early warning will protect students
from unnecessary and tedious legal wranglings. The lottery will
not affect upcoming senior requests for off campus status, requests
which are always granted.
The mass exodus from campus living is not unique to Oberlin.
Across the country, colleges and universities have started throwing
millions of dollars into the creation of on -campus spaces that
more closely resemble apartments, with functioning kitchens and
bathrooms. The trustees discussed the idea of creating more attractive
apartment-like living spaces at their meeting this weekend, but
according to Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith, there was a
lot of discussion, but little direct planning. Goldsmith also
ranked the importance of renovating dorm spaces fourth behind finishing
the new science center, creating more studio art space and building
a black box theater. In addition to potentially being forced to
remain on campus, students who smoke may soon find it even more
difficult to light up in public spaces. The smoking policy as outlined
in the student handbook reads, Oberlin Colleges policy
is to limit smoking...to outdoor areas on-campus that are away from
building entrances and exits. Smoking is banned at all times in
all campus buildings...except for designated smoking lounges in
the residence hall setting.
Director of Residential Life and Services Kim LaFond sees this policy
as both widely abused and impractical. Id really like
to see what students have to say about the idea of getting rid of
smoking lounges within dorms, LaFond said. Every year,
I get more and more complaints from students and parents alike.
Students living on the floor above the lounge, in the room
next to the lounge, or even on the same hall as the lounge frequently
complain, LaFond said. They were promised a smoke free
residence.
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