Rockhurst Sentinel

Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: Opinion

Will someone please explain to me the benefits of an off-campus house? I'm still figuring out why Rockhurst has been trying to sell me and other upperclassmen on the on-campus houses (OCH).

Rockhurst's repeated attempts to make OCH sound more appealing than the Townhouses fail when I look at the "amenities" of the houses. Some of the units don't have central air and none of the furniture comes with house. For example, the roommates in OCH are responsible for providing everything besides the bed and a couple of other small items, but they have to provide their own kitchen table and couches. Now I can sneak a lot of things out of my house like school supplies and coffee mugs, but my parents might notice if I smuggled the kitchen table out. And it would suck to try to get that thing in my Escort.

Yet Rockhurst has been trying to connive me and other upperclassmen into an off-campus house. If on-campus houses are really better, why hasn't a housing starved campus been fighting tooth and nail for every available opening?

The Townhouse Village has working heating and cooling and the convenience of being on campus. How important is it to be on campus? In THV, I am mere steps away from a laundry room. OCH provides the hookup; I have to provide the thousand dollars for the washer and dryer. Let me just pull that money out of my sock drawer or (even more of a long shot) ask my dad for that money.

So, why are juniors and seniors being asked to live in on-campus houses? Shouldn't they be given the better housing through their seniority? The only benefit I see to living on-campus is being able to BBQ on a porch or in a backyard. But thanks to a restrictive alcohol policy, beer brats are probably out of the question, so even outdoor cooking is tainted.

Something needs to be done about housing. Seriously. I know I'm beating a dead horse, and we've talked about it before. But until there is higher quality housing in both the dormitories and the on-campus houses and enough rom for everyone, the students are going to keep complaining. Well, given the nature of Rockhurst students, we'll probably complain no matter what, but with adequate housing, our grievances would be less justified.

To be fair, the Townhouses have been a great living experience. THV is convenient housing that is affordable and adequate. Out of all the housing, the Townhouses are clearly superior. For anyone who doesn't think they're worth the extra money over the dorms, consider this: the size of the bedroom in the Townhouses is single-handedly larger than the rooms in any of the dorms.

We've been over this a thousand times before: too many students and not enough spaces. The dorms are in bad enough shape as it is. You know a building is old when you can't open the windows for fear of the pipes bursting. Or when it takes three days for the heat to turn off and on. Or when mold starts appearing. (cough, cough, Xavier-Loyola)

I've come to think that Rockhurst won't build more housing anytime soon, but for the time being, they could do themselves a lot of good by making the On Campus Houses better. No one wants to live in a house that doesn't have central air. After all, they're looking for an upgrade over X-L.

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