Good-bye dorms, hello Decorah dwellings
Date 2/24/2005 12:00 AM | Topic: FeaturesThere are no RAs in sight. You have your own kitchen. You get to pay half-price for a commuter sticker.
But you also have to take out the garbage. Oh, and you have to call your landlord back.
Welcome to the life of non-dorm living. Due to Luther's residential nature, a relatively small number of students are granted permission to live off-campus. However, throughout the years, certain houses are passed from one graduating group to the next, picking up a certain reputation along the way. Sometimes the reputation dies hard.
"Our house is known as the 'Yellow House' due to the ugly yellow color," said Matt Johnson ('05). "An effort was made this fall to re-name the house. However, we realized that tradition is tough to break, so we just stuck with the original name."
Ginny King ('05), resident of the Pool House, had several good things to say about living off-campus.
"We can try to live like adults and not have RAs or the SPO cops watching over us all the time," she said. "[We have] the freedom to do what we want, when we want, without getting in trouble - for the most part, anyway. There is still the Decorah Police Department."
Megan McDermott ('05), resident of 58 Paces, so named because of its exact distance from Roscoe's, agreed.
"I feel like the biggest plus of living off-campus is to have your own space to get away when you need to," McDermott said. "It's also fun to be independent by cooking for yourself and taking care of household jobs."
Jill Kammarmeyer ('05), resident of the Treehouse, also put stock in the independence of off-campus living, except when it comes time for "cleaning a whole house and trying to divide jobs equally."
Eric Braun, director of Residence Life, said that there are benefits to residing on-campus, however. According to research, residential living provides stronger friendships, more involvement in activities and more satisfaction with the college experience.
Small liberal arts colleges tend to be residential. More specifically, when church-affiliated schools were initially established, these colleges intended to help students with their cognitive and moral development.
Until the 1960s, colleges were expected to assume the duties and responsibilities of a parent. This was known by the Latin term "in-loco parentis," which literally means "in the place of a parent. Obviously, the times have changed.
Although Luther cut back the number of students allowed off-campus from 130 last spring to 100 this year, there is no hesitation on Residence Life's part to allow seniors to live off-campus if they choose. Petitioning is an option for special circumstances.
Although Residence Life considers living in dorms "educationally advantageous," there are fiscal reasons to live on-campus as well.
"Living on-campus can save both the student and college money," said Braun.
The ResLife web page cites that living on campus "maintains lower room and board rates."
"It costs each student approximately $4,100 to live on-campus," said Braun.
Therefore, if Luther has several rooms empty due to 50 students not wanting to live in dorms, it results in a significant loss of money for the college.
"Other colleges can cover those costs, but the endowments that Luther has are not large enough to cover that lack," said Braun.
Besides keeping room and board costs down, living on-campus has other advantages over off-campus housing.
"There are more expensive places in the community than on campus, when you consider the costs of utilities and food," said Braun.
These extra costs are obviously a new factor when adjusting from residence halls to houses.
"We're trying to save money on heat, therefore our house is cold a lot," said Kammarmeyer. "Having to pay monthly bills [is another drawback]."
King appreciated "learning [how] to manage money," but also said that it's hard to "have a social life while trying to make enough money to pay the bills."
Baker Village could be seen as a happy medium between dorm life and off-campus houses.
"We try to replicate [off-campus living] in Baker Village," said Braun. "Many students cook for themselves. There's less monitoring; more autonomy. It provides an environment for a mature student."
"I think it's the perfect place to live," said Lindsay Bernhagen ('05), Baker's RA. "It's completely autonomous, you don't have to call your landlord or pay your rent every month. When else in your life are you going to live in a giant neighborhood with all your friends?"
On Aug. 2 last year, changes to the city nuisance ordinance were passed, due to an "accumulation [of frustrations] of the last two to three years," said Braun. "This year it's been fairly quiet, especially compared to last year."
Off-campus living, whether in Baker, College Apartments or other accommodations, has its share of pros and cons.
However, having to clean your own toilet in your own house isn't disadvantageous enough for seniors to shy away from shacking up.
"It is nice to be able to have a group of people over and have room for everyone," said Kammarmeyer.
King agreed. "You really do form a different bond with your housemates than you could a roommate in the dorms."
"Off-campus living has definitely been a great opportunity," said Johnson. "It has allowed myself, as well as my housemates, the chance to be on our own and prepare for the coming years. Being an actual member of the Decorah community makes you take a little more pride and responsibility."
--
Some names of christened student houses:Yellow House
Pool House
**** House
The Box
Mint House
Halfway House
Rainbow House
Treehouse
The Shed
Outhouse
Red House
Campground
Vannaheim
Blue Lagoon
Courthouse
58 Paces
The Lounge
Rugby House
Animal House
High House
--
Christy Patchin
[ Comment, Edit or Article Submission ]
