Summer workers to bunk in Battell

Author: Thomas Mayell

Student employees working at the College this summer will be living in Battell Hall, considered by some students the worst housing on campus, though championed by loyal Battell alums. Administrators chose Battell for summer 2009 because all other dorms will be used by the Language School or designated off-limits due to maintenance.

Student employees face a $50 weekly charge for a mandatory meal plan that does not include breakfast, in addition to the $20 weekly charge for rent. In the past, student employees had the option of a $100 meal plan consisting of three meals per day during the week and brunch and dinner on the weekends. Housing for summer employees varies from year to year, but typical housing often included academic and social houses like Weybridge House and the Mill.

Student employees reacted to these changes with much disappointment, though they understood the impetus for the decisions made. J.P. Allen '11, who worked as an intern at the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs last summer, noted that Battell has a reputation as "not the nicest dorm." His opinion of Stewart, where he lived as an employee last summer, was mixed. Allen said that although the humidity was an issue until a de-humidifier was installed, "I felt like I gained a little of the bond that first-year 'Stew kids' get during the year."

Other students were more forceful in their disapproval of the changes. Betty Dembicer '11, a summer research assistant to Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Rick Bunt, plans to live off campus in a four-person apartment.

"It's ridiculous that we have to pay $70 a week to live in a double in Battell," she said.

Dembicer will instead pay a similar price to live in an apartment with a kitchen, living room and patio off-campus.

Maddie Niemi '11, a research assistant in economics, also plans to live away from the College. While she is excited to pursue academic research this summer, Niemi, was unhappy to hear that students would be relegated to Battell.

"They normally put research assistants in Palmer or some really nice house," Niemi said.

Both Niemi and Dembicer estimated they would be willing to pay no more than about $40 per week to live in Battell, almost 50 percent lower than the $70 required to do so this summer.

Administrators considered offering an optional meal plan and implementing a card swiping system to deter unauthorized diners, but a mandatory meal plan was selected instead, said Student Employment Coordinator Deanna Gilbert.

Many students in years past were unsatisfied with the meal plan's substantial cost and limited hours, the latter of which is partly due to the Language Schools' restrictions on contact with English-speakers because of the language pledge. Some student employees may be allowed to eat during language school hours if they demonstrate competence in a foreign language.

In past summers, student employees often bypassed breakfast at the dining halls, ultimately making the meal plan more costly per meal. Survey results from the summer of 2008 highlighted these issues, and the administration responded.

"The only way that the cost of the meal plan could be reduced," said Gilbert, "was to have the plan be mandatory."

The mandatory plan also gives Dining Services an idea of how much they will need to prepare for each meal. Livingston Burgess '10 would rather not have a mandatory meal plan, but he understands the rationale behind it.

"They can't afford to have people freeloading the system constantly, so they make it mandatory," Burgess said.