Food, water and shelter are the three basic human needs.
All three have had their rounds of discussion on campus and the surrounding area. Subjects include the Caf bulletin board, public access to the beach and finally the housing situation on campus.
Last week, the Office of Housing and Community Living announced that a new method of divvying up the much-coveted on-campus housing will be implemented for the next school year.
Under this program, sophomores and freshmen will be guaranteed housing. All juniors and seniors will be entered into a lottery that will give no preference to anyone.
This policy is much better than the ones in previous years simply because it does not give preferential treatment.
Not guaranteeing housing to athletes or international students may seem harsh, but it is the only way to divide the rooms in a way that does not penalize anyone. There are several students on campus who could make a case for why they should be given preference over someone else, including transportation issues, hours worked on campus or seniority. Who is to decide who deserves an on-campus room more? This is a Christian university and the administrators can’t play God.
Housing on campus is in a paradoxical demand. Some students count down the days until they can move off campus, away from visitation hours and other university enforced rules. Others appreciate the convenience of living on campus.
It’s also difficult to find housing off campus, especially without multiple roommates to offset costs. This has created a housing crunch on campus as the freshman class has gotten larger and upperclassmen have refused to move out.
And even with roommates, freedom comes at a cost. One bedroom apartments in Malibu run more than $1,200 a month, and commuting from as far as Woodland Hills or Santa Monica doesn’t reduce rent very much. It also does nothing for convenience.
These students also face problems such as parking and traffic when coming back to campus for class, not to mention rising gas costs.
Living on campus provides a strong link to the university community. Students living on campus often know what is happening and usually attend more campus-wide events.
Some may feel cheated that changes are happening to them when they could have reaped benefits under the old set of rules. In past years, juniors and seniors could retain their same room or apartment at the end of each year if they wanted. They also had seniority in selecting the best rooms, such as the ocean-view, vaulted ceiling apartments coveted in the A-block of the Lovernich complex.
Now, these students are much like the crushed snails on the sidewalks late at night. They will be forced out of their homes.
But at some point the housing policy had to change. Other larger universities, such as Stanford, have employed and continue to employ similar systems successfully. This decision was not made in a speedy attempt to fix the housing crunch, but rather a thought-out plan to dole out dorm rooms in the most effective manner.
And like most programs here at Pepperdine, there is a way to cheat the system, or at least advantageous ways to use the new policy. Instead of going pot-luck, requesting a roommate and even bathroommates will increase the chances of getting a dorm room. This is because when one roommate is picked in the lottery, his or her roommate can tag along as well.
Another benefit in the new plan is the honors community, which will be located in the new Drescher housing complex.
Students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, no past disciplinary problems and about $1,500 extra a semester to spend can live in a single unit in the newly constructed housing.
Housing regulations will always be in constant change in an effort to help serve the students better. This new method has a good reputation among other schools that have a similar system.
After all, at the worst students might have to move to a condo on the beach.
February 20, 2003