The halls are littered with trash, the rooms stink, the washersare non-operational and full of stagnant water and the hot waterworks via a whim.
No, you're not in the projects, you're in the dorms of TheUniversity of Memphis, where thousands of dollars a year appear tobe disappearing into a black hole instead of maintenance.
I've had dozens of problems living in U of M dorms, where I wasforced to live following a decision to leave home.
All freshmen not living at home are apparently supposed to liveon campus because studies show that it improves grades and studyhabits at a pivotal time.
I might be mistaken in thinking sewage overflowing into yourroom on a normal basis is the antithesis to a focusing agent.
The last time this particular problem occurred, after I calmlystepped over the water seeping through the carpet of my room andmade my way with a serene coolness to the front desk to complain, Iwas met with a very unexpected response -- "They'll fix ittomorrow."
I looked at the maintenance form the desk attendant had me fillout. Perhaps the addition of "My room is sailing away on a sewageriver" would have gotten the point across.
After two other people from the floors below mine came andcomplained of inches of water pouring down through the ceiling, thedesk attendant finally got her superior, who tended to ourcrisis.
Even during the week of exams, there was no escaping theinevitable cold water shower in the morning because the hot wateris simply out for a few days, as still occasionally happens.
Maintenance forms I filled out at the beginning of last semesterhave yet to be tended to, and doing laundry used to be a battle tothe death for the last two operational washers or dryers.
Tenants of the dorms are forced to rely on the good word of thedorm employees, which is often more than disappointing when itcomes to fixing a problem.
Consider it -- the average cost of living in a reasonableapartment with utilities, etc. comes to roughly $800 a month.That's $300 more in the pockets of already struggling collegestudents paying the $1,100 to live in the dorms. And in theapartment, you at least have a feasible target to whom you cancomplain.
To the freshmen in their second semester -- be glad you'realmost free to run away from campus. There are lots of apartmentsright off campus where you can easily walk to class if you're stillone of the many unfortunates without a car.
Don't feel locked into staying in a place that considers you aburden rather than a paying customer. Always get your money'sworth.
