the race for housing is nearly impossible to beat. most students wake up early or miss class just to right click three times for semi-decent rooming. some colleges have lotteries, while others focus on students gpa, involvement, and other requirements. one would think it would be simple to wake up, open the university's housing page, and select the room of choice. this is true, it is; however, with unreliable internet connections a simple task can be impossible.
imagine sitting at your computer for fifteen minutes, on the same screen, waiting for 9:00 am to hit. you know that in twenty seconds over half the people in your dorm and many others will on a mad dash for housing. its 9:00am. wham-bam-thank you ma'am! you're on, but wait.. why did the screen turn blank?
this question has been boggling university student's across the nation, specifically those at an hbcu in washington, dc. internet outages, round about housing responses, and inefficient work ethics have left some tuition paying students - dormless. when it seems impossible to get through to the housing managers .. after weeks of phone calls and meetings, the next step is speaking to the president of the university. chasing the pavement is the only way to get anywhere.
when a student has the criteria and rsvp points available to reserve housing, why ignore their concerns? what is the point of having housing officers who are not sympathetic to issues that plague the students? clearly the students can’t manipulate the wireless internet, so it must the university’s fault for having poor technology.
so what do you do?
imagine sitting at your computer for fifteen minutes, on the same screen, waiting for 9:00 am to hit. you know that in twenty seconds over half the people in your dorm and many others will on a mad dash for housing. its 9:00am. wham-bam-thank you ma'am! you're on, but wait.. why did the screen turn blank?
this question has been boggling university student's across the nation, specifically those at an hbcu in washington, dc. internet outages, round about housing responses, and inefficient work ethics have left some tuition paying students - dormless. when it seems impossible to get through to the housing managers .. after weeks of phone calls and meetings, the next step is speaking to the president of the university. chasing the pavement is the only way to get anywhere.
when a student has the criteria and rsvp points available to reserve housing, why ignore their concerns? what is the point of having housing officers who are not sympathetic to issues that plague the students? clearly the students can’t manipulate the wireless internet, so it must the university’s fault for having poor technology.
so what do you do?
you write a letter and you continue to call. you show up at one office and if they dismiss you, you prance into another. people can tell you 'no' all day, but eventually someone will reply 'yes'. gather your friends, family, and others for support - make a petition on the dorm reservation system. do what you can to make your situation better.
that's what Howard University student, Melissa, is doing,
she states:
"I am taking my final step in “Operation Melissa Must Stay” on Friday [August 8, 2008]. I am currently drafting an e-mail to our new President, Dr. Sidney Ribeau. In this e-mail I would like to attach a list of names of Howard students who feel that my situation is unjust and to regularly happening on our campus. If you are in a similar situation your name will be added also. All I need if for everyone to write on the wall of the event or if u want your name to be kept secret send me a message with your first and last name as well as your classification."
if you would like to help Melissa, and the many students in her position, send me an email with your name and classification and you will be added to the petition as well. you can also view her facebook event at : http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=21703948794.
there's nothing like paying thousands of dollars to an institution that can't guarantee you a reliable dorm-selection process.
..it’s a campus crawl.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment