Housing changes

As the most recent alteration to Duke's ever-morphing housing policy, beginning this fall, students who are kicked off campus for housing violations will be required to pay the full amount of their contracts through the end of the academic year. Essentially, delinquent students will not only lose their housing privilages, but could owe the university up to several thousand dollars in payments.

In the past, students asked to leave campus were charged only for the time they actually spent living in university accomodations. The remaining balance of their housing contracts were paid for indirectly by their classmates. The administration's rationale in adopting the new system is that only the offending individuals should be made to bear the cost of their infractions.

Housing officials are also depending on the new punishment plan to act as a powerful deterrent. They hope that it will prevent students from dilberately violating housing guidelines to escape the university's mandatory three-year on-campus policy, and dissuade people from engaging in unruly behavior in general.

Several students have stated that this policy is too severe. They point out that a student kicked off campus will be responsible for paying the balance of his or her housing contract as well as rent at an apartment or house. In many cases the possibility exists that a student dismissed in the fall semester will be paying for their room even after it is filled by another student, such as someone coming back from abroad in the spring.

Whether or not this new system is too harsh depends largely on the logic behind it. If the adminstration's primary purpose is to deter offenders and those looking for a free-pass to off-campus living, then the new policy should go a long way toward achieving its goals. Offending students have signed a legal contract, and in violating it, have not only disrupted the university community, but also passed the burden on to those who have no responsibility in the matter. When they accpeted admission to Duke, they simultaneously agreed to abide by its living requirements, including three full years of on-campus residence.

However, if the true purpose behind the plan is simply to recoup monetary losses, a better policy could be implemented. Offending students should be liable to pay for their rooms until another tenant can be found. For instance, an individual asked to leave campus in the fall semester should be responsible for paying their housing contract only until another person moves into their room in the spring.

The new housing violation policy takes some much needed steps toward addressing the loopholes in the current on-campus residential system. Students who break the rules should not be allowed to shirk their responsibilities, however, housing officials should take care to be reasonable in the amount and duration of monetary punishments they assess.