September 18, 2007
AU Students Think They're Better Than You
This is rich: apparently students living in on-campus housing at American University, and at other colleges around the country, are starting to get full-sized beds in their dorm rooms. The Post ran the story this morning as a trend piece, explaining that as universities continue to compete to attract top students, amenities like doing away with the standard, awkward twin-sized beds in college dorm rooms are becoming commonplace.
DCist is here to say: this is total garbage. Living in a university dorm room is supposed to be awkward and terrible. Figuring out how to manage to have someone spend the night with you for the first time in one of those thin, weird twin mattresses is a right of passage in this great country of ours. Kids these days are soft enough as it is without schools choosing to coddle them into believing they deserve to sleep comfortably. This is an outrage of the first order.
Or, we're just totally pissed that we're all too far out of college to have missed out on this incredible change. Damn you, youth of America!
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As someone who lived in these dorms a mere 2 years ago, I am perplexed at how they are going to fit full beds in those tiny, tiny rooms. I can assure you, the awkward dorm experience is alive and well at AU.
You used to spend the night with someone "in" one of those mattresses? No wonder you were so uncomfortable. I always thought the roomate thing was a bigger hurdle to hooking up, but I'm probably just modest that way.
Just for the record, the building they are talking about at AU is not one that freshmen will be living in. It's for sophomores and up. Don't worry, the ickle widdy bitty froshies will still have to figure out how to manage with the twin beds.
This is really just for the recently remodeled Nebraska Hall, not for the other six dorms on campus.
I'm a sophomore at AU, and you pretty much have to be a junior/senior to get into that dorm.. and at that point if you're willing to live in a dorm, you definitely deserve a double ..especially if you're willing to pay for it (which they do!)
Is it just me, or is the tone of the WaPo piece bitingly condescending (by Post standards) towards these students? For instance:
"Some have given single rooms to students not used to sharing."
I mean, surely they aren't distributing these singles on a first-whine first-served basis.
Having had to sleep on these style beds at GW, I applaud this move if only because it'll make getting laid a lot more enjoyable.
Those bigger beds are only for a very small portion of upperclassmen. I'm writing this from my tiny, crappy AU dorm bed.
Everyone who lives in Nebraska Hall pays more, so they get more. Personally I think it's a waste of money and you might as well move off campus.
Although, those Nebraska beds are definitely more fun...
I hope to goodness that the Post's tone was condescending...this story is beyond the pale (although really I expected this from over-paying GW students). Holy crap people...when your story's protagonist is used to a queen-sized water bed at home...for a 17/18 year old, maybe you might need to think a bit more about your readership....if this story is more broad than the sources seem to indicate, it's why I so very much dislike those who are of a younger generation.....
Back in my day, they used to cram three students into one room at AU. And in those crappy beds as well. This must be delayed atonement.
Guest 10, they still cram 3 students into one room at AU. The WaPo story is blowing this out of proportion. But of course, anything to cast the younger generation as spoiled and worthless (not that some aren't. But there are plenty of spoiled, worthless adults as well).
If you'll excuse me, I've got a rainbow party to go to.
christ. how about reporting on the 7% cut Gov Kaine is forcing WM, UVA and Tech to make in their already-overstretched budgets?
this is why i like going to a public school. our buildings are falling apart, professors are underpaid, financial aid is nonexistant, and our library can't afford to be open all the time... BUT at least we don't have to hang around the type of rich kids with more money than sense who actually care about this shit.
i hate my generation.
/rant
Yeah, this is definitely only in Nebraska Hall, which is apartment-style housing so that the university can hang on to the housing revenue of students who would otherwise move off-campus. There are also only about 120 students in that hall on a campus of about 5,000 undergraduates. I'm a resident assistant who lives in a room that is literally a converted janitor's closet. Rest assured, real dorms are not going to be getting double beds any time soon. Students pay more to live in Nebraska because they want to live in apartments but still want to be on-campus and have somewhat more community than living in a building where the only time you see your neighbors is when they bang on the door to tell you your music is too loud.
Also, at least we don't do the obnoxious thing GW does--take their potential freshmen on a tour of the most expensive university in the country and show them a quad dorm room. At least pretend they're going to get what they're paying for.
Geez, I love to whine about whiny spoiled brats as much as the next guy but this is the biggest non-story I have ever seen. They're getting full size beds rather than singles. Wow! As the article states they're not making the rooms any bigger so there's no added cost there. What's the difference in price between a full size bed and a single? Amortized over 10+ years and I doubt this will cost more than 20 bucks a year extra. Damn those spoiled kids! I know if my girlfriend and I didn't have to spend 90% of our nights squeezed together on a single I would have missed a hell of a lot less classes in college.
Back in my day they used to fit three freshmen into one twin mattress. You had to wait until two of them roommates was snoring to engage in sexual congress, and had to share 1/3 of the bed with your sweetheart.
Ah the pity, youth is wasted on the young.
Someone had to say it.
It's really only a matter of time until they introduce bed time-sharing. They give each student 8 hours a day, and then they can fit 6 students into a double, or nine students into a triple.
College is just a four-year summer camp anyway.
Love it. Heh.
(But I think you meant "rite" of passage...)
The beds are actually in a new apartment style living option at AU.
Let us have the few seemingly great things they'll allow us.