We have all heard the stories - if not lived through them ourselves - about students having to be put up in the Twin Palms hotel or having to find off-campus housing far away because the highly coveted ASU residence halls were filled.
Now comes the news that private developers are planning to build apartments and townhouses close to campus, on land that currently belongs to ASU.
On one hand, incoming students will be thankful to have more places to live the college life closer the campus. But on the other hand, it's sad that private developers, not ASU Residential Life, were the ones to take the initiative in providing more housing for students.
Sun Devils are notorious for their student apathy in a number of areas, from campus involvement to school spirit. But this apathy may have a more pragmatic cause: A great majority of students live away from campus and either can't or don't want to make commutes for activities other than class.
Because of this "commuter campus" situation, a lot of students don't have the opportunity to participate fully in the "true" college experience, whatever that means to different people.
The future near-campus private housing will give such students a chance to do things such as go to football games, hang out at local bars and be kept awake by annoying neighbors who decide to have the world's loudest kegger the night before a midterm.
Unfortunately, such improved college life will come at a high price - which will go straight into the pockets of rich real estate developers.
On-campus housing should be one of the primary resources provided to students by a university. School administrators should be just as worried about providing adequate student housing as they are about hiring quality professors and offering exciting classes.
When a school owns a housing complex, chances are that the money being paid for rent is all put back into the dorms in some way.
But with private developers, there is no such guarantee. The main motive for the owners of privately owned housing is to make money. Sure, they'll do their best to accommodate their young tenants, but the almighty dollar will always be in the back of developers' minds for every decision.
Being able to live in dorms is one of the best things about making the leap from high school to college. ASU Residential Life should fight to provide more and better places on and near campus to live, instead of allowing real estate tycoons to move in next door.
