It’s the start of another school year at CSULB and the newest batch of students have just finished moving into the dorms. Summer is still in full swing and the daily averages easily reach 80℉ and higher, turning these newly-inhabited dormitories into mini ovens, especially when temperatures surpass 85℉ in the day.
Now, this shouldn’t be an issue, but only about a quarter of students have air conditioning while the rest have to spend their money on fans that don’t actually help.
How is it, that in three housing communities that easily hold over 1,000 students total only four buildings have air conditioning, and none of them are in Parkside?
“It is completely unfair that some students have ac and others don’t. You either have to live on beachside (which is off campus), in Los Cerritos (which is prioritized for honors students), or Los Alamitos. As a second year student, I really believed that something would have been done to fix this problem over the summer but again I’m facing the problem of being in an over-heated room and having to pay even more for a fan,” claimed one student.
The four buildings in question are Los Alamitos, Los Cerritos, Pacific Hall, and Atlantic Hall, which are located in Hillside and Beachside to a very limited number of students. In order to live in Los Alamitos or Los Cerritos, you must be a University Honors student and are applying against hundreds of others for very limited, high priority housing.
To live in Beachside, you just have to beat the rush as hundreds of returning students fight for a bed in the double or triple rooms offered in the two buildings on site. So already, there is an obvious imbalance of who gets air conditioning and who doesn’t.
To get a better perspective on the situation, I ran a short survey that gathered 68 anonymous reports from fellow students living in the dormitories.
Of the 68 students I surveyed, a staggering 72.3% of them lived without air conditioning, compared to the 27.7% who did. Now, how did students try to mitigate this issue? They did the only thing they could, which was raid the nearest Target for some sort of fan. Of the 68 students, 93.8% had some sort of fan to try and control the ever-increasing heat, but according to my results, they had almost no impact as 75% of these students still had trouble sleeping at least one night a week due to the heat in their rooms.
Now, it has been proven scientifically that temperature has an effect on sleep (as a quick internet search easily proved) and warmer temperatures make it harder to achieve proper REM sleep, which is responsible for feeling “rested” the next day.
One student even claimed they are, “constantly sweating so it is hard for me to be in my room. I have to study at the library most of the time.”
So what excuse does Housing have for this crisis? Many students prefer to do their work and study in their rooms but for many it is too hot, and federal business standards for a proper work environment is 68-72℉, which although a living space, should still apply to the dormitories.
When you think about the reasons for this massive inequality, the first thing that likely comes to mind is cost.
“Me and my roommate have 3 fans and because we sit on the perfect side, the sun hits our room for the hottest part of the day. I asked and they will no longer let us buy AC units to place in the window due to ‘electrical concerns’ as well as people breaking and entering. They also won’t let us have the ones that sit on the ground that has tubing into the window and back to the unit (can’t remember what it’s called off of the top of my head) because of those same issues.”
If cost was the issue, how is it that all students got a free microfridge added to their rooms at no extra cost? Clearly, funding isn’t an issue and neither is the electricity bill because they somehow have enough money for something that costs around $600 each, when a simple air conditioning unit only costs around $130-300.
Not only do the dorms have micro-fridges, the dormitories with air conditioning also have extra amenities such as wide-screen TVs, multi-purpose rooms, and even a cafe. Meanwhile, the rest of us have small standard TVs and a fake fireplace.
At the same time, they are currently working on building a new housing facility in Parkside. If students in the Honors housing are paying the same rates as we are, why do they have the extra privilege of air conditioning but we don’t? Some students even expressed health concerns for this saying,
“I had to use BMAC [Bob Murphy Access Center] to allow me to bring an ac unit as I have extreme heat sensitivity.”
With the heat rising in urban areas and dorm living costs rising with it, I believe it is time for the school to take a stance on the issue and address it. Though a discomfort for many, it is reaching a point where a health crisis is beginning to develop. The numbers don’t lie and it’s only going to get hotter. For the sake of the students, the discussion needs to begin and the inequality needs to end.
The students need air conditioning in the dormitories, and they need it now.
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