Students lobby to keep UH dorms
A plan gives neighbor isle, international and mainland students lower priority
Mainland and international students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa angrily objected last night to a proposal that could leave them out in the cold without dormitory rooms by lowering their priority ranking.
Neighbor island students would also drop in priority from second on the list to fifth.
"I don't want to be homeless," said Jennifer Corpion, a senior from Maui, who said she did not attend UH-Manoa in her freshman year because she was not given housing.
The changes were proposed April 7 by the housing office and are being reviewed by UH-Manoa Chancellor Denise Konan. Last night at the Gateway House dorm, Wayne Iwaoka, interim vice chancellor for students, held a meeting to get student input.
About 60 students, mostly mainland, neighbor island and international students, spoke out overwhelmingly and sometimes angrily against implementing the proposal this fall.
Several students noted the deadline to apply for priority housing is May 1 and that they could go home next month without knowing if they will have a place to live when or if they return.
Currently, all overseas students rank second on the priority list. Freshmen from any location have the highest priority.
The proposed changes would give sophomores who want to return to the dorm second priority and drop mainland and international students down to ninth on the list below all other returning students except those who live in urban Honolulu.
The university's 3,065 beds are not enough to meet the demand, and more than 1,000 students are put on the waiting list for housing every year.
Iwaoka and other housing officials said the changes were proposed because of complaints from people who were denied housing and because a Board of Regents policy states that students from Hawaii who "live beyond a reasonable commuting distance" should have the highest priority for housing.
Corpion said students on financial aid have an easier time getting housing in the dorms because they do not have to come up with the large deposit that would be required to find off-campus housing.
Mainland and neighbor island students complained that many students who live on Oahu do not need the dorm rooms as much as they do, noting that some Oahu students go home for dinner and to do laundry and do not even sleep in the dorms on weekends.
"The university will lose money because mainland students who are paying $25,000 a year won't be guaranteed housing," said Sonja Nordmark, from Washington state. She said she wants to go to UH-Manoa but might not be able to return if she does not have a place to live.
Iwaoka said the comments taken last night will be presented to the chancellor and UH President David McClain and that the administration will make a decision on the proposed policy by May 1.
