The Trustees are right to understand that housing problems extend beyond freshmen and see this project as the first step in a longer process. Freshman housing is critical to maintaining a positive atmosphere and the high level of performance we demand at Amherst. It may seem petty, but when faced with the decision between Amherst and other similar schools, many applicants choose on the basis of the quality housing.
However, this decision affects more than admission. If they're lucky, freshman housing is merely claustrophobic; if not, three will be crammed into two rooms in James or Stearns-buildings already condemned by students as dank pits of despair. How could such an atmosphere promote a positivite attitude towards learning and nurture a healthy social environment? The existing dorms have little common social space thereby relegating social gatherings to individual rooms and hallways-which are less than ideal and can further contribute to a displaced feeling among freshmen.
While we agree that freshmen housing should be the Trustees first priority we would like to emphasize that there is a long list of improvements that also need to be addressed. Sophomore housing is at least as pitiful as its freshman counterpart, with a significant number of rising sophomores forced to opt out each year. Academic issues must be addressed as well: some classrooms need to be brought into the 21st century and many need aesthetic renovations; the College's technology needs are too numerous to be mentioned here.
Furthermore, each year it seems as if there are more large classes, making the average class size professed in the College's admission information misleading at best. We therefore urge the Board to look into creating new tenure-track positions to further diversify class offerings and combat growing class sizes.