They aren’t; they’re no different from a dorm when it comes to the fact that similar to dorms, they make it easy for those of us who prefer our kids eat in communal settings. I didn’t single them out as being any different. Someone else made the argument that they were different, especially if they were “miles off campus.”
Am just pointing out that some fraternity houses…especially those located beyond convenient walking or close public transport/driving distance are in practice, no different than students/adults living with roommates with different schedules in off-campus apartments.
Am specifically thinking about several fraternity houses I know of in the Boston area which are located far ehough from their campuses that one has to factor in a minimum of a 20-minute drive which can easily turn to an hour in rush hour traffic or if there’s an accident or roads are closed for maintenance/repair.
Also, there are apartment buildings for undergrads/post-college young adults which are operated on and marketed towards tenants who want more of a communal “dorm-like” atmosphere…including socialization/group events organized through building management or by the residents themselves.
They seem to be pretty popular in some areas of NYC and Boston in neighborhoods with large numbers of young adults or undergrad/grad students who want a more “dorm-like communal atmosphere”.
“several fraternity houses I know of in the Boston area which are located far ehough from their campuses”
Yeah, but like 25 guys live there, and other members are frequently there for meetings, etc. I know those houses. That’s NOTHING like living with a few busy roommates as a young professional.
“What control does the university have on land that it does not own?”
Ask the residents and businesses around Northeastern IL University in Chicago about that.
Apparently, the university is using eminent domain to buy out neighboring properties in the neighborhood to build new dormitories. NEIU has traditionally been strictly a commuter campus, but they have been talking about building student housing for a several years now… It was my understanding that new student housing would open this coming Fall 2016.
The residents of the surrounding neighborhood, as well as many at the university are not happy about how the university handled things.
Eminent Domain is the govt (the city) claiming (mandating the sale of) lands for supposedly justified needs.
With the issue here, the U and locals opposed the demolition and building permits needed to make the new private apt building happen-- and the city ultimately approved it all. The builder had quietly bought the homes in the footprint, over several years or more.
re: #64 - News stories I read indicated that the university had a hand in forcing property and business owners to see. Did not know about the builder quietly buying… Thanks for the clarification and update.
There isn’t one frugal house to be had in Menlo Park CA. LOL
Just to clarify, it was my local area where the builder bought the homes.
We do have a similar issue where this U and another nearby one force the city into certain positions, since they’re major employers and students feed revenue into the local economy. Eg, when the U takes over some old building for class space, it drops off the tax rolls. A mess. I’d guess, in your case, someone is claiming that building dorms is a BFD for the community.
Eminent domain has become more and more private. A private company needs the govt to use eminent domain to obtain land so that a big project that will benefit the city/county/state/feds with tax benefits, schools, roads. The city may be the one using eminent domain but the property goes immediately to a private owner.
Columbia made use of eminent domain - via the state - to build its new campus north of 125th St. It bought all it could then got the state to deal with the ones who wouldn’t sell.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/nyregion/25columbia.html?_r=0
D attends a womens’ college, a pricey one. Their meal plan is required and is in the average price range for colleges. Since their cost of goods sold should be considerably less than a school with 50% males, shouldn’t either the quality be better or the cost lower? The quality and amount of selection are poor, and if one goes the last hour, much of the food is gone.
To add insult to injury, no one on campus is allowed to have a microwave in their room. They are required to live on campus 3 years. I can’t believe a 750 watt microwave would pull that much power. I wonder how much a Keurig uses in comparison? She could eat much healthier with a microwave.
My college is one of those with the lazy rivers, beyond belief fitness center, and luxury apartments with more on the way. D was admitted, but their financial aid is considerably worse than most other similar LACs in this state. Good school, just expensive 
Microwave ovens and electric kettles aren’t allowed in rooms at S’s school either because they are a fire hazard, not because of the energy use. There is also one meal plan at his college - everyone gets the same thing as part of room and board.
At our state flagship, we’ve seen is construction of lots of ‘student luxury’ apartments which are apartment buildings with a small grocery store, a gym, and good internet access which are much nicer than the usual decrepit regular student apartments. They are about 30% more expensive but have helped relieve the close to campus housing shortage. I haven’t seen many of the superlux amenities that are described in the article though. Dorms have been refurbished but a lot of that was necessary due to failing plumbing and wiring. New university dorms are much nicer than those of 75 years ago.
Actually, while that’s what college dorm authorities want you and other parents/students to believe. According to some electrician friends, they’re usually using it as a pretext because of energy use.
Especially considering microwaves do suck up a lot of energy when used.
Only exception to this is if the dorm’s electrical system hasn’t been updated since the very early part of the 20th century which I’d find hard to believe considering that would mean such systems could easily be overloaded if students brought in dorm fridges, personal computers(especially desktops) and especially laser printers*…items which are usually allowed for dorm use.
- Laser printers also suck a lot of energy during use and use a noticeable amount of energy even when seemingly off if left plugged in. This is one reason why more tech savvy friends who are conscious about energy use only plug in their laser printers if they are actually printing something and when done, unplug it from the wall.
My daughter’s suite had a build in microwave but they weren’t allowed to have other appliances that didn’t have an automatic shut off because of fire, so no griddles or other things like that. These were modern apartments so all up to code. I know at some schools they limit cooking because of bugs and mice.
^ ^
Also, while most dorms had such restrictions on the books, the level of enforcement varied according to the dorm administration of the college or even particular dorm.
For instance, most of the dorm RAs I had tended to look the other way if the appliances were usually kept out of sight under some dark cloth or bags.
“D attends a womens’ college, a pricey one. Their meal plan is required and is in the average price range for colleges. Since their cost of goods sold should be considerably less than a school with 50% males, shouldn’t either the quality be better or the cost lower?”
Huh? What does the women’s college aspect have to do with it? You’re feeding x number of bodies.
Because college boys inhale food. I have two girls who can put away a lot of food. I’d forgotten how much boys can eat (I have 4 brothers) until my daughter’s boyfriend came for a week. He’s a little skinny guy, but eats huge quantities of food.
You know, for all the media’s enumeration of these crazy amenities I have yet to see an institution with most of them or even some of them. There’s probably one university in the country that has a lazy river and is being repeated over and over again. I’ve never been at an institution with a hot tub in the residence halls. And yes, many colleges and universities have nice fitness centers, but staying fit is important and a lot of these colleges have Division I sports. The fitness facilities at Penn State were amazing…but there were thousands of student athletes who used them to keep in shape for playing (in addition to everyone else).
I think in a country that is founded in part on the idea of free enterprise there’s room for everything. Obviously there have got to be some lower-cost choices with more frugal options for students who can’t or don’t want to spend a lot of money on top-notch facilities. I’d even argue that most places should be like this - few to no frills, focused on the academics. But so what if some expensive, fancy-pants private schools want to build nap rooms, lazy rivers and rock-climbing walls on campus? I mean, adults might have to “swallow thier dreams” and realize that they won’t be able to afford a BMW, a luxury high-rise apartment or their own private jet.
My son is an avid cook…and a very fine one too. He never inhaled his food, not even when he was little. He savored it.
Saying boys inhale food is like saying girls eat less food…those are very broad generalizations that simply don’t apply to all.