THE HOUSING Division is set to reject the petition of the Woody House Council to attain priority housing next year, and some say that the residents of Woody have been compensated enough for their troubles. But these residents deserve the priority housing to make up for their sacrifices and to provide them with the consistent community they lacked this year.
It's quickly pointed out that the Woody residents paid 85 percent of the normal housing fee, as compensation for living in a triple one semester. By doing the math, though, one can see that this isn't that generous. In Alderman Road Dorms, according to the U.Va. Housing Web site, a student in a double pays $1,115 a semester, or a combined $2,230 for both roommates. Split three ways, that's $743 for those in a triple for one semester. Add that to the $1,115, and Woody residents should theoretically pay $1,858 for the year. That's a little more than 83 percent of the normal rate.
A discounted rate? It looks like the Woody residents are being overcharged, if anything.
Also, the original roommates of the Woody residents, who got to stay in their dorms, still paid the 85 percent rate. Thus, the discount applies only towards the triple situation and doesn't even cover the trouble of moving.
What's left to compensate for the move? A micro-fridge. Would you move at one of the busiest times of the your first semester of your first year, away from all your friends you've bonded with, all for a micro-fridge?
But what about the list of amenities that Woody has? An elevator and air conditioning. In a four story building, an elevator isn't much of a benefit. "I hardly ever use it," Woody House Council President Vivek Taneja said in an interview. And air conditioning arguably is needed most in late summer, when these residents didn't have it.
Also, according to several Woody residents, they've had to deal with a lack of hot water, motion-detecting lounge lights that turn off while people are still in the room, and maintenance workers in the rooms, halls and bathrooms.
These aren't gigantic, intolerable problems. But they show that Woody isn't the "Plaza Hotel" many people might think it is.
It has been argued that the idea of giving priority housing as compensation is unfair. For instance, there are people who live in Woody who choose to live off-Grounds next year and they wouldn't benefit from this proposal.
But according to Taneja, virtually all original members of Woody - those who moved in before Winter Break - signed the petition. Including those who are living off-Grounds. If the solution of priority housing is so unfair to these people, then why did they sign the petition?
What is difficult for most people to understand is what those who moved went through. At the beginning of the year, the Woody residents had to pack their belongings into a double room with three people for more than two months. Anyone who thinks that this is easy must not have tried it.
The Housing Division apparently didn't give much thought to the timing. They decided to move everyone in mid-November, right before Thanksgiving crunch time. Try to imagine the added stress of moving, with schoolwork, midterms and preparing for break.
Also, the early part of first year is an insecure time for a lot of people. People are making their friends, forming their cliques and getting involved in activities. Many times, all three of these are centered around where you live - your residential community.
Some argue that the Woody residents have made more friends by moving from one dorm to another. However, for many, this social displacement was an unwanted upheaval of both their social and academic lives. Priority housing would resolve some of these issues.
As Woody resident Jen Ramirez put it, "the residents of Woody were literally uprooted after they finally settled in a community. Priority housing would help Woody residents to choose a community for their second-year experience." After what they've been through, it seems the least that Housing could do is to cut them just a little slack for next year.
Unfortunately, the Woody House Council put the petition in to the Housing Division too late to have an effect. But it's wrong to say that the residents of Woody are not deserving of priority housing after such a tumultuous first year experience.
(Brian Cook is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at briguy@virginia.edu.)
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