The owner of the Collegetown Terrace project, a 1,050-bedroom apartment complex currently being built south of E. State Street, will open a model of a two-bedroom apartment interior at the former location of textbook vendor Kraftees.

Cornell's residential housing is implementing sustainability initiatives that go along with the University's Climate Action.

For at least one of their years on the Hill, on-campus housing is an integral and unique part of nearly every Cornellian’s college experience. As 17- and 18-year olds leave behind the comforts of home for the residence halls and program houses of North Campus, they are presented with a year-long living situation that very well might make or break their Cornell experience.

Crazy parties, binge drinking, and police visits – these are not the things you associate with the mix-gender suites on West Campus. However, a recent study by Visiting Prof. Brian Willoughby and Prof. Jason Carroll, Brigham Young University, has spurred a new wave of alcohol-related concerns.

Far, far away in a little-known part of town is Schuyler House — a dormitory near downtown Ithaca that most upperclassmen have never even heard of. Housed in Schuyler is a contingent of students without a dining hall, whose neighbors are local Ithacans, and who trudge 20 minutes uphill every day to get to class. Unfortunately, these students are not upperclassmen, embracing the independent Collegetown lifestyle. Instead, these 110 students are some of the most marginalized of students at Cornell: transfers.

In the 1900s, the Cornell student body was housed entirely in fraternities and boarding houses — no real dormitories existed. According to Cornell: Glorious to View, a history of Cornell written by Profs. Carol Kammen and Walter LaFeber, both history, Andrew Dickson White, Cornell’s founder and first president, believed students should board themselves. Clearly times have changed. The Class of 2013 enters Cornell with a plethora of housing options, ranging from traditional residence halls to more specialized program houses. Let’s review some of the facts, figures and follies of the 10 traditional halls:

Balch Hall

When I first arrived at Cornell as a sophomore transfer, I was entirely convinced that the University hated me. I found orientation to be completely disorienting. I was absolutely befuddled as to which orientation activities were for transfers, which were for freshmen and which were for both. I was also thoroughly lost. Weaving around the rampant construction on West Campus, I went through a couple of campus maps as I frantically deciphered building codes trying to find out where on earth the Transfer Center was supposed to be. To make matters worse, the weather was decidedly fickle, and I had yet to discover the wisdom of carrying an umbrella on my person at all times.

On March 2, 2009 at a forum to discuss the Asian and Asian American Center (A3C), President Skorton, in response to a question about the future of program houses and safe spaces suggested that “program houses have to show enough interest to justify those expenses.” Skorton’s statement that students “should vote with their feet” is a popular argument used to hold students solely accountable for the future of their resources in a manner that absolves the University of its responsibility to preserve those resources. An issue as complex as program houses cannot be addressed with a dismissive attitude.

To the Editor:

Re: “A Heightened Sense of Urgency: City Policy Endangers Collegetown Development,” Opinion, March 30.

Collegetown has long been a part of Ithaca and the culture of student life at Cornell. For many of us we have grown to love this neighborhood as a home away from home. Chris Basil ’10 and Ryan Lavin ’09 were absolutely correct in saying that we must be concerned with the City of Ithaca’s policy regarding Collegetown’s development. The Common Council’s proposed policy changes will hinder the growth and development of Collegetown creating problems for landlords, permanent residents and the growing student population.

Tasked with unprecedented demand and no new beds, Cornell Housing (CH) faces great challenges in the coming years to place all students who so desire into on-campus housing.

And that is exactly how this article would start if it were a news item. However, this is my space, so I would like to give my angry opinion on the matter.