[1347] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
News story on MIT housing policy, 8/26/02
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (McDougal Sarah)
Mon Aug 26 14:58:24 2002
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 14:24:40 -0400
From: McDougal Sarah <mcdougals@BWSC.ORG>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
Dear Editor,
I am writing to address three inaccuracies in your short report by Alex
Ashlock on MIT's changing policy with regards to freshmen housing.
Firstly, in your report you stated that prior to this year, first year
students were "required to find their own housing". This, especially in
conjunction with your introduction which stated that MIT is housing freshmen
in dormitories this year for the first time, is incredibly misleading.
First year students were always guaranteed a room in the dormitory system if
they so chose, and were required to live in MIT-affiliated housing. Many
students chose not to live in the dormitory system, as I did, but this does
not mean that they were forced into the Cambridge/Boston housing market, as
the wording of the story suggests.
Secondly, your report implied that MIT's policy changed due to pressure from
parents. While I am sure that many parents did express their opinions and
concerns to the MIT administration after the unfortunate death of Scott
Krueger, the change in policy from requiring freshmen to live in
MIT-affiliated housing to living in MIT dormitories had been contemplated
before. Many faculty and, indeed, many students felt and feel that having
all freshmen live in the dormitory system is better than the older system.
As a former member of the Undergraduate Association, which is MIT's student
government, and having spent hundreds of hours over several years discussing
the housing system with faculty and members of the administration, I saw
little evidence that parental complaints were a major impetus to this
decision.
Thirdly, your report states that Fraternities and Sororities are unhappy
with the decision because it reduces the amount of rent they receive. I
have two comments with regards to this point. My first point is that you
ignored a third non-dormitory group, which are the cooperative housing
units, which MIT calls Independent Living Groups. These are non-Greek co-ed
groups that are not dormitories, and starting this year, are also no longer
housing First-Year students. My second point is that while lower residency
numbers do equate to less revenue in the short term, most Fraternities,
Sororities and Independent Living Groups have increased the number of
upperclassmen students living in their houses, and the rent-loss is a short
term issue. Most groups are unhappy with the new system as it reduces the
choice given to the First-Year students as to their housing options.
In the past, I have found WBUR's news coverage to be accurate, insightful,
and respectful of different sides to an issue. I was very dismayed to see
that your reporter had so obviously done so little research into this issue.
Sincerely,
Sarah McDougal, MIT '01
asarahm@alum.mit.edu
Sarah McDougal
Downspout Disconnection Program
617 989 7412
617 967 4048 (cell)
mcdougals@bwsc.org
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