Moving into the Ritz

By Bryan O'Keefe

The Washington Post has a front page story this morning about a new, opulent apartment building near the University of Maryland that is targeting college students from UM and other area schools. The story goes on to describe the ‚“dorm rooms‚” (quotes mine) as:

“a furnished single room with a double bed, private bathroom, cable and high-speed Internet. Her four-person suite has a full kitchen, a washer and dryer, a dining room table and black leather couches in the living room. Her high-rise building has a game room with video games, poker and pool tables and flat-screen TVs, rooftop deck, a pool and -- losing track here -- okay, and a big fitness center.

And tanning beds.”

While this is a private housing project which makes it less of a problem (at least the taxpayers aren't paying for it!), it's not entirely uncommon anymore to see similar housing in regular dorms too. The question that people should be asking is if this type of housing is really necessaryor just collegiate overspending and indulgence. Sure, the dorms of old might have been a little impersonal, but should colleges and universities be spending their precious few resources on building palatial dorms? Is it really worth raising tuition through the roof and asking state government for more appropriations just so we can build the next Taj Mahal complete with poker tables, swimming pools, and tanning beds?