Letter to the editor

Residence halls provide quality living amenities

I am writing this letter concerning the Oct. 25, issue of the Student Voice in regards to the article, “Campus residency requirement confines students.”

The points are as follows:

First, if a complaint is made about room temperature to a staff member of Residence Life, a call is made to campus Facilities to address the heating problem. For safety reasons, space heaters are not allowed in rooms. This information can be found on the Residence Life website.

Secondly, mini-refrigerators are not supposed to act as a full kitchen refrigerator. Any alleged food poisoning coming from food stored in the mini-refrigerators was due to poor use, such as storing meat. If larger products want to be stored, each residence hall is equipped with a full refrigerator.

Thirdly, usually kitchens are empty, only being used by a limited amount of people. There is no “high demand” for them. Going off of the baking issue, planning ahead of time can solve it. Keeping desks open longer is unnecessary.

The article also addressed that the kitchens should be remodeled. Residence Life has already remodeled Johnson Hall and is currently working on the other halls.

Finally, there is a wide variety of places on campus to study. The library, the University Center, every study lounge on campus and basements are a few examples. Courtesy hours within a hall are between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., on weekdays and 8 a.m. and 1 a.m., on weekends. If a noise complaint is made, the RA will address the situation. Writing that the halls are full of screaming and yelling makes it sound like RA’s aren’t doing their jobs, which they are.

My final thought is, the hard working people of Residence Life have provided a fair amount of amenities for students including Wi-Fi, water, shelter, access to events, safety, beds, recreational equipment, collaboration stations and so much more. I ask that before another article is published slandering the name of a campus department, that information is correct and arguments are logical.

Mariah Ross
Student, UW-River Falls