Mold, sanitation issues compromise safety
Perhaps there is no need to explain just how angry I was to find out, the day before I moved into my obscenely expensive Horseshoe apartment in Pinckney/Legare Colleges, that this prime and highly demanded housing spot was completely uninhabitable. The walls and furniture were covered in mold, and the toilet had not been flushed since the previous inhabitants had moved out. I was lucky enough to be able to quickly find alternative arrangements, though not ideal ones.
As a junior in college, I am now back in a dorm rather than in an apartment with my friends. But not everyone has been fortunate enough to even be able to find an alternative housing arrangement. In the past week, I've heard stories of freshmen entering their on-campus rooms on move-in day to find dorm walls ripped to shreds or, in an extreme case, a pile of feces sitting in the middle of the carpet, forcing the student to have to commute from home due to the inability to obtain last-minute housing reassignments.
Such horror stories should not exist on our campus. On-campus housing rates are already exorbitant and in some cases more than double the cost of off-campus housing. For such prices, the very least USC could do is ensure that students are provided with comfortable living arrangements and do not have to worry about health issues that could arise due to abysmal sanitation conditions.
Situations like the above mentioned reflect a huge lack of responsibility on the part of USC as well as a poor management system. In all on-campus housing buildings, resident mentors and regular maintenance staff are tasked with helping ensure that the facilities are kept clean and habitable. However, if such duties are neglected or poorly performed and there is nobody to solidly enforce completion, then the student body suffers.
USC administration must consider taking housing conditions of students more seriously, or if they are simply unable to do so, must make housing costs a fair and accurate reflection of the conditions of the buildings. An un-renovated and moldy apartment on the Horseshoe, for example, should not be the same price as a newly renovated one, and it most certainly should not cost $7,000 per school year. If USC does not pay more attention these things, it will continue to compromise a fundamental right of the students: the right to have a safe place to live.