To the Editor:
I just downloaded the residential floor plans available on PUBLIC from the Office of Residential Life. Upon examining other clusters around campus, I found some things which angered me.
For one thing, I live in a one-room double with a floor space of 159 sq. feet. I searched nearly every cluster but could not find any other rooms with such a small area. I found a few 164-sq.-footers in Richardson, with whose occupants I can empathize, but that was about all.
I also found about 15 singles that were larger than 159 sq. feet in area (The biggest was 178 sq. feet). I realize that they are mostly undergraduate advisor and area coordinator rooms, but Topliff, for one example, has four or five singles bigger than my double on one floor. It can't possibly have four or five UGA's to a floor.
Lastly, I have seen state university doubles bigger than mine.
The Will To Excel capital campaign is earning a lot of money. Why is the College ignoring living places for students?
I am not necessarily against expansion, but when the College reduces the comfort of its students in favor of other factors, it seems to have a casual disregard for the importance of us, the reason it receives $25,000 a year multiplied by 4,000. Studying at Dartmouth is difficult enough; imagine doing so and living in a room where, if the bed wasn't a bunkbed, there would be no place to stand up!
This spring I drew a 3,175 for a cluster priority number. Fortunately, next year I'm rooming with a friend who has a relatively high priority number. But for many students, claustrophobia may be just around the corner. I hope the Office of Residential Life will be more receptive to our complaints in the future.
DAVID HOFER '97