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University Should Set Minimum Standards On Dorms
Claudiu Ludoşan
Around Bucharest, there are a large number of student living facilities. Some provide a decent environment for their residents; others are beneath criticism and the unfortunate students who live in them suffer all kinds of indignities they should never have to put up with.
The bad residence houses are plain even from the outside - peeling paint, graffiti, damp stains and garbage strewn all around. But we rarely ask ourselves, who is in charge and why do such large differences exist between dorms belonging to the same university? After all, they all have the same budget for maintenance.
How is it that some dorms are infested with bugs and have broken windows covered with cardboard, while other boast new plastic windows and high-tech toilets? Clearly, a dorm that is bigger and houses more students receives more money than a smaller one with fewer students, but everything is calculated proportionally. Or it should be.
It's interesting and probably not coincidental that the university administration offices in the Law School are surrounded by the best money can buy, from the high tech toilets with sensors inside the Law School itself to the freshly painted and whitewashed Mihail Kogalniceanu dorm nearby. While everything looks 'European' around the administrative offices, take a trip to the Fundeni Dorm to see the other side of the coin. It looks like a bomb site. Why should that be? Is money being siphoned off along the way?
Differences between dorms exist even when it comes to the basic and fundamental issue of security. While in some dorms you simply push the door and walk in, in other you can't get in even if you live there and you just forgot your pass.
For example in P22-P23 Dormitory in Regie Campus, anyone can enter as if there was no door at all. That includes thieves or beggars, who are happy to take advantage of the opportunity. Once they get in, all they have to do is figure out a way to 'borrow' somebody's computer and drag away, right under the noses of the Regie Police Department situated right next to the building.
On the other hand, in the Leu dormitory, in the A building, the guards are vigilant and can even be aggressive. Most unfair is the fact that the students who already pay almost 200 lei to attend school also have to pay rent to live in a dorm, while those not paying fees also have their rent covered.
Although it seems as if the university housing crisis is getting better, it is very clear that with almost 6.5 million lei allocated for renovations, the authorities could do a lot more.
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