To the Editor:
Since ORL announced the decision to change the East Wheelock Cluster, making it an experimental "academic" dorm, I have heard countless students complain about what a horrible idea this is. Not a single person that I've spoken with has praised the idea. However, my question is this: What's wrong with everybody? Why is everyone so upset about this change?
To me, this is a fantastic change. Now, with the New Dorms being predominantly Freshmen dorms, fewer upper-class students will have to live there. It is common knowledge that the doors in the East Wheelock Cluster are not only too narrow, but also that they do not shut properly. Furthermore, the spacious accommodations of the rooms in East Wheelock can hardly accommodate for the fact that the walls are way too thin, making quiet a rare commodity. Likewise, the obnoxious post-modern architecture and poor color scheme of the Cluster further diminish its appeal. Presumably, the funds that will be pumped into the Cluster will be used to solve these problems by updating the architecture to a more traditional look, repairing the faulty doors, and thickening the walls. Once these enhancements are made, the Cluster will cease to be the disaster that it has thus far proven to be.
Another exciting aspect of this change is the fact that now no upperclassmen who want to live in another cluster will be forced to live in the New Dorms. Many upper-class students actually want to live in the Choates because of their convenient proximity to frat row, or even the River Cluster with its equally spacious rooms and quiet atmosphere. Keeping all this in mind, I hardly think there is anyone who would deny that this change in the East Wheelock Cluster is clearly for the best. Now, maybe it will become a desirable place to live.
