Campus Changes: Good or Bad?
Isabella LaFrance, Contributing Writer
November 17, 2023
Isabella LaFrance, Contributing Writer
The summer of 2023 saw big changes on campus, like the repaving of the roads and building of sidewalks. Campus now has automatic locking dorm room doors and free laundry, which has greatly impacted students.
This is UMF’s first year incorporating free laundry into the dorm buildings. This new improvement has left new on-campus students happy and former on-campus students frustrated.
The new free laundry improvement is definitely viewed overall as a cool addition.
Bri Benson, a current on-campus student states, “Free laundry this year is really nice. Last year I spent a lot of time driving home to do my laundry on the weekends because it was just not affordable here at school for me.”
Despite hearing many great things about free laundry this year, there have also been complaints.
Bella Miller, a former on campus living student states, “I am very frustrated that I had to pay for laundry last year and now people who live in the dorms don’t have to. I feel as though the money I spent on laundry was a waste and that it didn’t even need to be spent now that I knew all along it could have been free like it is now." When students had to pay for laundry it used to cost $1.50 to wash and $1.50 to dry. At the local laundromat, Laundry Depot, it costs anywhere from $3 to almost $10 depending on the size washer you use, and then for the dryers it is 25¢ for every 4 minutes. With the laundry now being free in dorms it saves a decent chunk of change that residents don’t have to worry about anymore. Although it doesn’t seem like much, it adds up, and if your laundry still comes out of the dryer wet, which was known to happen, you would spend more to get it completely dry.
Free laundry can definitely be a great incentive to people living on campus more, but arguably students who used to live on campus are very frustrated and have even talked about wanting a refund.
Miller says, “ I feel as though the people living in the dorms last year should be refunded for the money that they spent because again paying for laundry last year just for it to become free this year was a waste of money.”
Another improvement made during the summer by UMF is the automatic locking doors in dorms now. Many mixed emotions have been expressed by this change.
The reasoning for making the doors automatically locking has to do with the students safety.
Benson states, “I have mixed emotions about the doors automatically locking. When I expect company it is a pain that they automatically lock. But with living alone I do also enjoy it without having to fear or worry about some stranger walking into my room.”
Although students have expressed they have felt safer, there has been some conversation about getting locked out of their rooms easier and it causing CA’s needing to be available more frequently.
There are many concerns regarding the automatic locking doors.
Miller states, “What if you have a single and there is no CA on duty and you need to get into your room? I think there are a lot of aspects that go into why having the doors lock automatically is more of a hassle than when they didn’t automatically lock. I don’t think that the dorms automatically locking are a very good idea...think about if you were just in the shower and are only in a towel and got locked out of your room, people can feel very vulnerable that way.”
Change can be scary; it can make people frustrated, but it also can be beneficial to many people. There are many mixed emotions regarding these changes, and if people want these changes to be relooked at then they should bring them up more with those in charge of campus living.
