Editor,
The housing department of UNM has been holding students hostage instead of treating them like customers.
UNM has begun a policy that does not allow residents to opt out of their housing contract at the end of the first semester, forcing them to live on campus for an entire academic year.
The penalty for breaking the contract is ludicrous, and the subsequent penalties are unwarranted, obviously driven by the school's sad attempt at making a buck.
Beginning in the 2007-08 school year, all students who choose to live on campus will have to sign an academic year-long contract. This forces students to make a decision about where they will live for an entire nine months of their lives.
If students can no longer afford to live on campus, find a cheap alternative or do not enjoy living on campus, they have no choice but to ride out the academic year or pay a hefty penalty.
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UNM's penalty for breaking the housing contract is obviously driven by greed. The penalty is 40 percent of the remaining balance of the contract, even if the room is filled by another resident.
If another student fills the student's room, why should the student pay for the rest of the contract? UNM is already getting back its money.
UNM changed the length of housing contracts to squeeze more than a few pennies out of its students. If a student breaks his or her housing contract and has a roommate, the roommate could be penalized as well. For instance, if a student moves out and the roommate is unable to find another student to replace the one who moved out, the roommate is charged upward of $500 for taking on a single room.
Essentially, the school is holding the roommate responsible for something another student did. In this case, UNM will have charged the student 40 percent of the contract for moving out and also charged the roommate. UNM probably would not have the reputation of a commuter school if it treated students like customers and not ATMs.
UNM's housing atrocities do not end with the room portion of the housing contract, though. When a student moves off campus before the end of the academic year, he or she is forced to pay 40 percent of the meal plan as well.
If the student is not living on campus and eating the food, he or she should not be charged for it. It is not as if all the meals for the student for the rest of the year are sitting in a container in a freezer with the student's name on them.
UNM should stop trying to swindle its students out of money and start treating them as customers.
Michael Thorning
UNM student
