Monday, October 3, 2011

Pissed about Whitewater housing? Join the crowd (by anons)

Here are two woeful accounts...

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For some of you this may not matter, but for those of us that still unfortunately live in the dorms it is. I went on the UWW website and tried to do a few calculations to figure out how much it is per semester, for a Wisconsin resident, it is to live in the dorms.The number I got was roughly $3600.00 Now when i did this I said I was an undergrad and that I had between 12-18 credits, which is true. But the reason I am “pissed” is because of the internet and cable issues.

Between saturday morning till now we have not had cable and terrible internet connection. For the amount of money we pay per semester, how is this not fix within 24-48 hours of this happening. I do realize some of this money goes towards cleaning expenses, keeping the building kept up, etc. But, when people are constantly calling, and them telling us that there is an “unbalance in amplifiers” that just sounds ridiculous. Personally, I don't need a reason, but when we call and ask why its not working on the third day, please don't say that you have been trying to fix it, because clearly you haven't.

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Still looking for a place to  live this semester?? Being homeless in Whitewater really sucks!! I returned to UWW after living abroad this summer. I went to DLK thinking no worries they will have a place for me. After all, I did rent from them last semester and even got %100 of my deposit back! Imagine my dissmay when they said sorry we have no rental properties available. I found the same response at Tincher and JJWalton. Im like WTF is going on, NOBODY has a 1bdrm a studio not even a freakin couch!!!

I waited 2 weeks to see if anyone had left the school and not moved into their apt.. This time I spoke to the Management staff in each office and received the same response almost verbatim, "The University overenrolled this semester and they remodeled a dormitory at the same time. As a result we rented or leased over %95 of our available rentals to the University."

Why was there no forewarning via email, Fbook, twitter, cell phone, home phone, skywriting, carrier pigeon of the Universities plan to remodel a dorm. Who counts the number of incoming transfer students and Freshmen? How could the University not see what a cluster F this would cause for students that return from all parts of WI and afar to UWW in the fall. Sure Sure "first come first serve". I tried to leave my deposit last semester before I left and was told "NO we cant do that!" Now Im just plain assed-out! Available housing is no less than 25 miles from the University and that adds another $250 a monthin in gas and maintenance on my 1999 jelopy that I was hoping to nurse until graduation. Now my shit stye apartment jumps from $500 to $750 to account for travel and Im still havent eaten anything or watched one episode of Sports Center!

Oh well eyes on the prize of Higher Education right? Anyone have a couch rug basement floor I can crash on?

13 comments:

  1. In regards to the second story, there's an old saying that goes "Your poor planning does not constitute as an emergency on my part."

    maybe you should have figured out your living situation before you studied abroad...

    A good portion of the people in interact with on a daily basis here at UWW were aware of the upcoming dorm remodeling and most of us haven't lived in the dorms for at least two years.

    And one more note, until about a week before classes started we had a spare room in my house and had an ad listed for a roommate on craigslist since about May stating that we were looking for someone one, so I'm not quite sure how you missed that one...

    While I do agree your situation sucks, I'm going to step back while you go throw your pity party.

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  2. There is only one person to blame for this sorry state of affairs and that is your Chancellor. He sets the enrollment targets for the campus and has kept it do low that anyone can get in here. He has resisted all attempts to establish an enrollment target like other schools. He thinks the more warm bodies he has on campus the better the campus is going to be perceived, but he is wrong. Because there are weak enrollment standards here the failure rate is higher and the classes are over crowded, and as you mentioned housing is stretched to the breaking point. This is not rocket science. He should understand the nature of the resources on campus. Tell your chancellor you want the University to establish meaningful enrollment standards and stop letting in everyone with a heart beat. Then there may be a place for you to live. I am with you but if I speak up on this issue the chancellor and his minions will fuck me up like they did the Chinese prof in Math. They fucked his ass up big time.

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  3. To the cable person:

    Stop crying about cable and internet connection. I called Charter when my shit went down and they scheduled me as fast as they could and service repair usually take a week. Unless you are related to the chancellor, calm down and read your text books and do your home work. Facebook is not going anywhere.

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  4. In regards to Anon 4:14 PM, I feel it is completely irrational to blame Chancellor Telfer for any of that. A university is a complex organism, built up of varying departments and directors, all of whom make decisions. Just because the Chancellor is the the most visible face representing the institution does not mean he is responsible for every action the university takes nor does he deserve the criticism you are throwing at him. To follow your model, I should scold the CEO of McDonalds for getting a hair in my McFlurry yesterday.


    As to the first commentator of this post, please realize that the digital/HD cable currently in the Residence Halls is a brand new entity. ResNet was still working daily to get it even functioning at all up through the month of August. And yes, there is no excuse (because it sounds like this fact was never accurately communicated to you).

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  5. To the last poster, you sound messed up.

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  6. My advice to you is do some more research into how your university functions instead of flapping your lips about something you know little about or at least ask relevant questions.

    Your analogy does not hold in this case. The CEO of Micky D's manages literally thousands of hamburger joints here and abroad. If you get hair in your burger you should scold the manager of the local franchise and many people more smarter than you do.

    Regarding the Chancellor of this institution, he alone establishes the enrollment target for the academic year period. This is a fact that you can easily confirm.

    By the way, I used to be one of those directors mentioned in your post and was intimately involved in the enrollment decision making process so I know what I am talking about, and he richly deserves the criticism for over-enrolling students.

    Here are the facts. UW System establishes an enrollment target for all of the campuses, including Madison. The policy is referred to as enrollment management.

    Failure to meet this target means that the university will have to return some of its appropriations, so there is inherent pressure to hit the target.

    However, several years ago, the UW System decided to award institutions extra funds for exceeding the target, so extra students bring in extra revenue over and above the usual appropriations.

    Thus, the policy of this chancellor and previous chancellors has been to exceed the enrollment target to collect the additional revenue.

    The problem with this policy has been to flood the campus with students that do not meet the admission standards, over tax the faculty and academic resources, including housing. A quality institution has enrollment standards and enrollment targets. Whitewater has NONE!

    So in my opinion he richly deserves the criticism and is responsible for the over enrollment of students and the low ranking of this institution, as admission standards are factors into national rankings.

    By the way, there are some decisions that only the chancellor can make. The decision to build a new college of business building for the business faculty and its programs was made by former Chancellor Jack Miller period. Many of us argued for a building for letters and sciences. We lost and now occupy run down former residence halls or leaky building such as Heide or Winther.

    A college campus is not like Congress, where there is widespread debate and discussion. There is no democracy. Major decisions are made by the chancellor period, regardless of the campus.

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  7. 5:13

    Stop apologizing for bad service. Why start working on the damn system in August. Start in June or July, get the damn thing working before students get here. Bring in the professionals, not some minimum wage geeks off the street. That they was still working daily is no excuse. Get it done.

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  8. This comment is in response to the internet and cable situation in the first entry on this post.

    I'm Ken. I work for ResNET.

    From what you describe you had an internet outage on the weekend. ResNET has limited support on the weekends. We are staffed by students who also enjoy breaks from studying. If you call and leave a voicemail or email us during the weekend, we will address the issue as soon as possible when a tech is available.

    As far as the cable outage goes, the "unbalance in the amplifiers" you describe is indeed close to the situation ResNET repaired Monday evening in Wells West. Although it may sound ridiculous to you, it does make sense to us. Hopefully the adjustment resolved your issue. If not ResNET will be more than happy to assist you. If you have questions regarding the progress of an open work ticket, please feel free to ask.

    Your anonymity does not resolve the issue. Please feel free to address any and all campus tech issues with us. We'll answer them as best we can.

    Ken Fager
    ResNET

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  9. 3:26 AM,

    Does having status here as a faculty or staff member give you insight onto the motivations inside another individual's mind? Simply because you were a part of this system (and seem to hold a rather bitter view, particularly in regard to the choice to build Hyland hall) does not mean you can speak for the Chancellor on HOW he feels about enrollment or, supposing your argument is valid, WHY he would feel motivated to exceed such a target.
    You claim he does it for the moolah! How can you know this? (perhaps you are/were a professor of mind reading here at U-Dub-Dub) An equally valid argument could be that he feels strongly about a well educated population-the more people we have in college, actively using their minds to dissect information and take command of their own lives, the better.
    This is not an uncommon belief. Ask any staff member in the Admissions office here, and you will find that our drop in the Freshman class size from last year to this year was a negative thing. Many feel that having a large undergraduate population is a good thing, why can the Chancellor not be one of them?

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  10. APARTMENTS ARE ALWAYS AVAILABLE. Let me assure you there is and will continue to be housing available in Whitewater and the surrounding communities. Calling three landlords does not account for due diligence on your part and only DLK and Fox Meadows leased rooms to the university. There are less one bedrooms than there have been in the past and that has more to do with people deciding they don't want roommates but there are still many one bedrooms, two bedroom, three bedrooms, couches and subleases. Have you looked at cragslist or NoMoreDorms.com they both have properties available now and both have a bunch of subleases. I know it has been hard to find stuff in the past but come on look at craigslist and NoMoreDorms.com and your problems will be solved.

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  11. I don't trust anything DLK does.I waited a week to get the mattress and bed frame when I moved in. They threatened to fine me $25 for trash I THREW AWAY APPROPRIATELY, and their heating systems suck.I'm sorry this is the only thing I can afford,but at this point I'm starting to regret my decision that I'm not in a dorm.

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