Luxury dorms, but at what cost?

It's a freshman's right to complain about sub-par living situations. Every incoming college student is warned about shoebox sized rooms, no closet space, and smelly roommates, not to mention communal bathrooms.

Not any more. According to a Dec. 22 Time Magazine article, "Dorm Deluxe," an increasing number of colleges across the country are building new, luxury dorms that students have the option to live in -- for an additional price. Now students have the option to pay more in order to avoid the living situations bestowed on students in the past.

To some students, these luxury dorms are worth the price. For an additional $6,000 to $7,000 on top of tuition, students can live in brand-new, state-of-the-art buildings.

These high-tech buildings, available at schools such as Chicago's Illinois Institute of Technology, Florida International University, and Seattle Pacific University, come equipped with stainless steel panels and walls of tinted glass. There are glass elevators, leather sofas, 50-inch plasma screen televisions, floor to ceiling panoramic windows, Jacuzzis, and a high-speed, wireless internet connection that, among many other things, can tell you when your laundry's done.

Tufts students won't be watching the Red Sox on plasma televisions or relaxing in their personal hot tub after a workout at Gantcher any time soon, however. Due to the historical status of the building (20 Professors Row) it is slated to replace, construction on Tufts' proposed new dorm, Sophia Gordon Hall, has yet to begin, and the dorm's layout and design are not "luxury."

Most students do not mind that the new dorm will not offer luxury amenities to those with the cash to pay for them. "I think [offering luxury rooms] defeats the purpose of being a freshman," junior Sara Brauner said. "There is plenty of time to be segregated by socio-economic status. Why not prolong at least a feeling of equality?"

Some worry that singling out wealthy students will make the students on financial aid feel inferior; calling attention to a fact that had never before been anyone's business.

"It takes away from the fairness of the dorm system, where everyone is equal no matter how much your parents make or how much financial aid you're on," junior Blake Barnes said. "The rich kids live in the same small and smelly rooms as the kids on financial aid. Everyone starts out at square one."

But if parents can afford it, why deny their children such luxuries, some ask. "It makes sense logically if the parent wanted to put their child in that environment and has the financial means to do so, it is their right to reap the benefits of what they have earned," junior Hassan Omar said.

The extra money from the additional cost of the luxury dorms would also bring universities a whole new source of revenue: according to the Time article, it would attract more students whose families could donate large sums of money to university capital campaigns.

Even though the perks of luxury dorms appeal to Tufts students' senses, most would rather have a less luxurious but more equal and diverse academic setting than a more luxurious but class-conscious one.

Though he recognized that offering luxury dorms to those students who can afford them might increase Tufts' profit margin from housing, junior Tim Wagner said that the tradeoff is not worth it. "I certainly think [luxury dorms] would segregate the community," Wagner said. "Tufts is already far from unified, and it seems to me, class is a big segregator -- if that's a word -- that we don't talk about a lot. I think the luxury dorms would only exacerbate the issue."