Norwich students face tough housing problems

By Natasha Waggoner
Norwich Guidon Campus Editor
and Maggie Denison
Norwich Guidon Asst. Campus Editor

When senior Dana Harris returned from summer break, he was shocked when he found out he was living in Plumley Armory.

"Major Bryan told us we had a pretty nice set up; we walked over, and as soon as we walked in I realized it was an old classroom," said Dana Harris a 23-year-old communications major from Springfield, Mass. "It was too tight to be living in there, let alone having all your stuff from home in there."

Some students returning to school this fall who expected to be housed in dormitories discovered that wasn't necessarily the case.

Due to the increase of the incoming freshman class, extra rooms were created in Plumley Armory, and some rooms in Dodge, Patterson, Crawford, and Alumni Halls were created into triple and quadruple rooms. Civilian and corps students were living in a converted Army ROTC classroom, which held 12 students.

According to Major Helen Bryan, Student Housing Officer, there were several reasons for creating rooms in Plumley. The rooms in the dorms were filled. "Those students who did not meet requirements, as in they didn't pay their deposit, pre-register, or if we weren't sure if they were coming back, were put in the Armory."

As soon as all of the students arrived, arrangements were made to get the students in Plumley into other temporary rooms.

According to Colonel Michael McKean, Commandant of Cadets and Vice President of Student Affairs, the administration is going to empty the Armory out first, then the quads and then the Dodge lounge.

"We are cleaning the temporary rooms in Hawkins Hall out, and moving corps students into their company areas," Bryan said.

The decision was made to consolidate all recruits into two buildings this year.

"We decided to put four freshmen into a room with very little belongings instead of four freshmen with a lot of stuff," said Bryan.

"I really didn't want to put upperclassmen in quads and trips," said McKean. "They have been here longer, and it is a perk of being an upperclassman."

Life in Alumni is very hectic, especially with three roommates.

"Concentrating is really hard, because so much is going on at one time," said John Rider a 19-year-old criminal justice major from Montgomery, Ala. "Some people are trying to iron while others are studying."

According to Ryan Neilson, a 21-year-old native of Ventura, CA, studying criminal justice, the housing situation is unsatisfactory, because there is very little room, and it is an inadequate studying environment.

"Many rooks study in the library because they don't feel comfortable in the barracks," said Neilson.

Ironing uniforms is a daunting task for one room of four.

According to Neilson, the circuit breaker gets blown at least once a night due to having all four irons plugged in.

Everyday tasks like taking a shower become complicated when there are too many people in one living space.

Everyone ends up using the shower at the same time, according to Rider.

"Having to wait in line four to five deep slows us down," said Neilson.

According to Liza Brice, an 18-year-old undeclared major from Burlington, VT, says that the living arrangements are not that bad, but trying to sleep while her roommates are studying is a nuisance.

Though life in the dorms is not ideal, the administration is doing all that they can for the students.

"We don't want our students to live this way. They pay a lot of money and deserve adequate housing," said McKean. "We were willing to rent a Bed and Breakfast if we still had people living in Plumley."

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