I write this letter as a response to a letter sent in by Lauren Kuntz that was published on April 3. The Department of Residence (DOR) is most certainly doing what is right for students. Through my two years in IRHA, I have discovered some pretty great things about the residence halls. While I recognize Lauren’s point, a new residence hall is absolutely necessary for Iowa State. I agree, some of the residence hall spaces need upgrading and renovations. Fortunately, DOR has plans to do just that.

These things are going to happen, they just take money. Well, why don’t we take the money from the new hall and put it toward the renovations? We cannot because the Board of Regents issued loans specifically for a residence hall and will not issue them for renovations. That is the simple truth. Because the DOR is self-sustaining, every renovation is paid for by the students, no funding comes from the state or from the university. We do not want to raise housing rates a substantial amount to pay for desired renovations to happen all at once, they take time to get done and it can be frustrating.

Happening this summer: elevator improvements in Barton, Freeman and Oak-Elm; finishing sprinkler installations in Friley; renovating corridors in Friley; improving the bathrooms in Buchanan; replacing the roof and windows and installing new flooring, lighting and paint in Freeman and Lyon; complete renovations of Larch, including wall resurfacing, new flooring, paint, furniture, elevators and lighting.

Happening next summer: new bathrooms, flooring, paint and lighting in Birch, Welch and Roberts; a new roof, window replacement, new bathrooms, flooring and paint in Barton.

And the next year? New windows, bathrooms, flooring, paint and lights in Linden and Wallace, and updates to the Towers and MWL commons.

I could go on for five years. The DOR has a plan and renovations are coming.

Speaking to the point Lauren made about Legacy, DOR did not convert Legacy into dorms. Legacy is still owned by Campustown and DOR rents the entire building and places CA’s in the building. The students living in the 1,455 rented off-campus beds are paying less to live than they would if they were still privately operated in many cases. DOR pays the full rate, furnishes the apartment, pays the utilities and still gives students a cheaper rate. DOR is currently losing some money on those off-campus leases, so we are trying to get those to break even and decrease the amount of spaces we lease off-campus. But how? Do we turn people away? If so, who do you want to turn away? Freshmen? Seniors? There is a reason people want to live with DOR and it’s an unparalleled experience where you find people to hang out with, find others to study with, join intramural teams and form friendships that last a lifetime. With that in mind, in order to accommodate more students and get residents out of the den spaces, we desperately need a new residence hall and are finally getting one. I appreciate Lauren writing her letter because it gave me an opportunity to say we know there are problems and are working to solve them but renovations cannot happen overnight. I can assure you, however, they are on their way.