Living on campus is usually more expensive than living in an off-campus house, and, on top of the higher cost, the dorm rooms here at the University are quite small and uncomfortable. And the bathrooms are often dirty (mostly due to irresponsible students).

Even so, living on campus is more convenient for highly involved upperclassmen. The more involved a student is, the more desirable an on-campus residence is, because even the closest house requires students to walk through Hempstead in the middle of the night after meetings, events and newspaper deadlines have come to a close.

So why is the housing process for 2008 catering so much to the freshman class? What about the students that have been living on campus for two or three years and have been paying all the while? Where is the fairness in “displacing,” or “relocating” as Residential Programs likes to call it, the upperclassmen?

For example, the New Complex, one of the better residential buildings on campus, will be a freshmen-only dorm in the fall. Why not let upperclassmen-students who have been here longer-have that building?

It is understood that the most money comes in from freshmen because they are entering while paying the highest tuition and will only end up paying more as their stay continues. But the University should not forget about the students that have already paid a lot and have spent years living on campus.

Also, the new housing process includes many more freshmen-only buildings and floors. What they should really do is let the freshmen decide whether or not they really want to stay only with their class. Freshmen can learn so much more from living with upperclassmen, rather than being provided a “13th-grade” environment.

So, with all these changes being made for next year’s incoming class, what’s going to happen the year after? Are the upperclassmen going to lose more housing? Will it ever end? Will all University on-campus housing soon be turned into freshmen-only? Too bad, upperclassmen: it looks like you’re going to have to find houses on the oh-so-safe Hempstead Turnpike, or start commuting from New England.