The first student concern raised at the meeting involved the status of modular housing for the 2005-06 academic year. The College Council stated that, to their knowledge, Williston Hall will house first-year students next fall. As a result, the Plaza and Waldorf-Astoria may again become upperclass housing and a part of the annual RoomDraw process.
Douglas Barnet '08, a current resident of The Plaza, was particularly disturbed by the prospect of having to live in the mods again next year. "I don't think it should even be a possibility to live in the Mods two years in a row," he said.
Jason Klinghoffer '06 expressed a similar sentiment and spoke firmly against allowing current first-years living in the mods to live there again. "The whole idea of putting people in [The Plaza and The Waldorf] two years in a row I think gets to the point of factoring in qualitative housing into the RoomDraw process," he said. "I think it is grossly unfair that people can just get lucky and have good housing three years in a row. There should be some kind of factor of looking at where people live and [then taking that into account] somehow in next year's RoomDraw process."
The possibility remains that The Plaza and The Waldorf will remain first-year dormitories next fall. However, Plaza Resident Counselor (RC) Jacob Thomas '07 insisted that incoming first-years should not have to spend their first year at Amherst isolated from the rest of their class. "I feel that the [mods] should be converted back to sophomore housing," he said. "I don't feel that they are the best option to house freshmen. If possible I think all freshmen should be housed on the quad next year."
According to Park, the College Council and the Residential Life staff are still uncertain about who will live in the Mods next year. "The issue, I hope right now, is not necessarily 'Is it going to be a freshmen or sophomore dorm?'" Park said. "[The issue is] what are we going to do to help people who are in the mods this year [avoid living there] next year?"
The College Council proposed a system that would give all first-years currently living in the mods and placed there again next year a higher living-unit-value in the room-draw process the following year, conceivably providing them with better housing options as juniors.
Dorm damage was next on the list of topics discussed at the meeting. One student living in the Pond Annex voiced his disapproval of having to pay for damages accumulated in the rest of Pond Dormitory.
Rosalyn Foster '05, an RC in Appleton Hall, explained that even though Pond Annex is in some fashion isolated from the rest of Pond, a policy excluding inhabitants of the Pond Annex would be unfair. "If you can't figure out exactly who committed the offense it isn't fair to charge some people and not others," she said. "Even though the Annex and the rest of Pond are distinct they are still the same dorm."
Ghazal and Park asked students how they would feel about spreading the costs of dorm damages to the entire student body. Most students seemed to oppose such a solution, although some were especially concerned with dorm damages in the social dorms. "Everybody goes to the social dorms on weekends and trashes them," said Kent Escalera '06. "It is unfair to the people living there."
All of the topics discussed at the meeting are still open for debate. Park and Ghazal encouraged students with concerns to e-mail them to members of the AAS.