2008 Woodie Awards
A mandatory laundry fee is just plain dirty
By: Marisha Pietrowski
Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: Forum
Last week, The BG News reported that the Office of Residence Life is weighing charging on-campus residents $50 per semester for laundry fees.
The charge would be added to students' Bursar bills, regardless of how frequently, if at all, they use the laundry services in their residence halls.
Supporters argue people won't have to worry about finding quarters to wash their clothes.
But this one positive step does not justify many other negatives that are tied into this proposal.
The proposed fee is a high rate to begin with, and although this may not be the intention of Residence Life, it will take advantage of the students on campus that would not generate enough laundry in a semester to break even.
According to last week's article, students would need to do an average of two loads a week, a number that seems unrealistic to many students.
I myself only do one load a week, meaning that under this plan, I will be "donating" approximately $50 a year to Residence Life.
My Bursar bill is already high enough with miscellaneous fees and payments, and I do not want this to be added to the list.
The story also said 30 percent of on-campus residents take their laundry home and do not use campus facilities.
This plan will be charging money to students who do not even use the service, and as one of these students, I am opposed to the idea that I will be paying for something that I could do at home on my own time and at my own pace.
I prefer doing laundry in the privacy of my own home; I can have the space to air-dry my clothes and not have to confine everything to a dryer that will shrink my clothes or hang wet clothes in my small dorm room.
It's not mandatory to do laundry in our dorms, but with this fee it almost becomes this way unless you want your money wasted.
The fees would go toward buying energy efficient equipment, if the infrastructure of the dorms could handle it.
I also question the logistics of this plan.
The charge would be added to students' Bursar bills, regardless of how frequently, if at all, they use the laundry services in their residence halls.
Supporters argue people won't have to worry about finding quarters to wash their clothes.
But this one positive step does not justify many other negatives that are tied into this proposal.
The proposed fee is a high rate to begin with, and although this may not be the intention of Residence Life, it will take advantage of the students on campus that would not generate enough laundry in a semester to break even.
According to last week's article, students would need to do an average of two loads a week, a number that seems unrealistic to many students.
I myself only do one load a week, meaning that under this plan, I will be "donating" approximately $50 a year to Residence Life.
My Bursar bill is already high enough with miscellaneous fees and payments, and I do not want this to be added to the list.
The story also said 30 percent of on-campus residents take their laundry home and do not use campus facilities.
This plan will be charging money to students who do not even use the service, and as one of these students, I am opposed to the idea that I will be paying for something that I could do at home on my own time and at my own pace.
I prefer doing laundry in the privacy of my own home; I can have the space to air-dry my clothes and not have to confine everything to a dryer that will shrink my clothes or hang wet clothes in my small dorm room.
It's not mandatory to do laundry in our dorms, but with this fee it almost becomes this way unless you want your money wasted.
The fees would go toward buying energy efficient equipment, if the infrastructure of the dorms could handle it.
I also question the logistics of this plan.
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