Dorm promotion must account for students' needs

MSU made a design choice, a long time back, to build dorm complexes on the periphery. Whether you live in Bryan or Hubbard or Holden, since you are “on-campus,” why is everything so far away?

One thing you learn in downtown East Lansing is, you live closer to central campus than most of the “on-campus” residents.

I moved from Bryan Hall to 1xx Collingwood Drive. Classrooms within 1/2 mile of Bryan: next to none. Classrooms within 1/2 mile of 1xx Collingwood: Wells, Erickson, the B-school, and all of north campus.

It’s not just the cost savings, or the freedom … which comes paired with responsibility … it’s the convenience.

living in a 12’x12’ room with no kitchen, bathroom or parking for $1258 a month…sign me up.

“To put it in perspective: A single at Chandlers Crossings is $855 per month. A single at Abbott Place is $734 per month.

But a single for those students who decided to live on? It’s $1,258.25 per month.”

The on-campus single also includes your electricity, heat, water, cable, high-speed internet access, and local phone – not to mention a service desk that operates until around midnight, a meal plan that provides actual nutrition at a reasonable rate, regular social activities, and in-house dedicated staff to provide academic and personal guidance.

If you’re going to make comparisons, do it accurately. It’s true that on-campus living requires you to act like an adult and may require you to – gasp – share a bathroom (which is professionally cleaned each day, BTW), but it’s still a pretty good value when compared to off-campus living.

I think the statement “the root of this campaign is more likely than not the desire to raise more money for MSU” is a little off the mark.
MSU has a huge investment in their housing infrastructure and it is simple economics that it all works most efficiently when it is running at capacity. It would be irresponsible for Housing Services to NOT try to make the most efficient use of the existing facilities.

I think it’s fair to say that the primary reason students move off campus is a greater sense of freedom (and not just around alcohol and partying). For me, it was the freedom to choose how and where to spend my money. It was the freedom to live with a number of friends with common interests. It was the freedom to have more control over what I ate and when. It was the freedom to sleep where, when and with whom I wanted. In other words, to enjoy the privileges of being an adult.

That said, I agree with Zeke that the comparison offered by this article is too narrow. The costs of living anywhere involve more than just rent and food. There are many other considerations, including utilities, transportation (to class, to the grocery store, parking), and other hidden costs you don’t realize until you are responsible for all of them. You also are responsible for cleaning up after yourself in ways that are taken for granted when you live at home or in a dorm. As one who has lived both on and off campus, I can attest to some of the surprises that came my way when I moved off campus.

With that in mind, I’d like to see the State News do an article (perhaps annually) that truly examines the comprehensive costs and benefits of all living options. Now THAT would be the kind of journalism that could make a difference, and would truly serve the public good.

Single apartment(msu operated)- 700 month includes all uliitites/cable/internet

Parking- 110 dollars per year(but most other apartments are free). Same cost as parking your car in one of he giant lots that take 15 minutes to walk to.

getting to a from class- I don’t know if you have heard of it, but its called CATA. They operate buses in the lansing area, and on MSU Campus.

Food- if you spend 300 a month, that would be a lot. Cost to drive to and from grocery store is nominal.

IT IS cheaper to live off campus, while at the same time offering much great living arrangements. Hell, anything is better than a 12×12 cell.

hey zeke, how much is MSU paying you?

Damn, way to bite the hand that feeds you!

You readers should also know you can save a few bucks by getting your SN tax refund.

Security in the dorms…ha ha don’t make me laugh

Everything you said is absolutely false zeke.

Apartments are cheaper than the dorms. Like a previous poster said, MSU Apartments are 700 dollars per month. That includes ALL utilities and cable/internet. It seems that you have never lived in an apartment, but heat and water are almost always paid by the apartment owner. That leaves electricity and cable/internet. Over my experiences that averages in the 140-150 per month range. IF you live with another person, the 75 per month is much reasonable, but it is not unreasonable to pay individually.

Local phone- who actually uses those. It is called a cell phone, i highly suggest you invest in one.

Help desk- wow, they put mail in your mailbox and probably steal some it too. Very helpful. (sarcasm font)

In house staff- again, they provide little valuable service. College is about being on your own, figure things out on your own.

Meal plan that provides nutrition- campus food is garbage. Pizza, friend chicken, sodium and more sodium. The food is poor quality and when i ate there freshman year, it was of poor nutritional value. The food is expensive, it is not a good value. 75 dollars a week is more than you need to buy groceries, that taste good, and are actually healthy. thats only a little over 10 dollars a day. Better than the 20 you pay for crappy cafe food. Plus you do not have to go do the cafe whenever you want food.

Not all dorms have community bathrooms. What a shocker. Those that do not are cleaned by the students, and you never know how messy your neighbors may be.

You clearly must be a senior who still lives in the dorm. Maybe because nobody wanted to share an apartment with you. The dorms can be a great experience, i will not deny that. But they are anything but a value.

The food is so expensive due to the mostly incompetent, lazy, $50/hour managers who never get up the energy to make things more efficient. They usually have about 4 or 5 people just to stand around and wait for the food to run out, so that one of them can walk 10 feet into the kitchen and fetch it. They also continue to replenish food supplies until the last couple of minutes that they are open, so they can just throw it all away at the end. I would say that at least $500 of food get thrown away every day at every dorm.

That, and the fact that they are so adamant about bringing in large amounts of fair trade coffees/teas and ridiculously expensive vegan food from places like Woody’s for the minority of students that require it.

Excess like this, seen particularly in the renovations to Sny/Phi and Brody, is evidence that college is becoming increasingly populated by the upper class.

So we had the same discussion in the ’70s. I lived in William’s as a junior (the only dorm w/o a meal plan at the time). I moved off campus as a senior for the same reasons mentioned by others…what is old is new again. No one mentioned living with their girlfriend as a plus to off campus. I’m pretty sure the dorms don’t allow that.

I moved off campus after my freshman year in 2003/04 because of many of the reasons listed in the article. I had an off-campus job (& was actually allowed to keep my car on campus because of that) but could never make it back in time for dinner before the cafs closed. Combine that with skipping breakfast most of the time, & I was paying $20/day for a cafeteria lunch, while having to buy my own groceries anyway.

Another thing they didn’t mention? An apartment is typically a 12-month lease. This could be good or bad – they don’t kick you out or require special permission at holidays/vacations, but you have to cover the costs or find a subleaser if you go elsewhere during the summer.

Still, for me & obviously many others, the benefits for off-campus far outweight living on.

Maybe if the dorm food wasn’t heavily processed canned crap and if the rooms didn’t resemble prison cells (some of these dorms seem like they have changed very little in the last 50 years), people might consider living in the dorms.

The dorms are gross, smelly, disgusting old bathrooms, everyone is sick… its like hell on MSU’s campus. Can’t wait to get out of the dorms!!

I agree with Kailey, the dorms are disgusting. The air circulation is so poor that it stinks. You got 100s of people breathing the same air over and over again. MSU housing needs to invest in new central HAVC systems that provide good circulation. Is clean healthy air too much to ask for?

Many apartments offer 9 month leases. Yes the monthly rate will be more than a 12 month, but the overall cost is less than a 12 month. This is beneficial if you are living at home during summer, studying abroad etc. Also, MSU apartments do not have a lease requirement(sorta) I think the minimum is 4 months, but after that you can cancel your apartment at any time without any penalties (just have to give 45 days notice).