One day not enough

By Editorial

We can all agree that the first week of school was hell: The transition from summer, the scheduling of classes, the pricey textbooks and the plethora of residential learning community meetings were enough to give us all headaches. But what topped the totem pole of exhaustion that week was the lack of time given to students moving into on-campus housing.

For the record, freshmen were given a whopping two days to import their belongings onto campus. And returning students- even those who live in apartment-style housing? They were given less than 24 hours.

What kind of logic is that? This housing plan only seems feasible if students were to own two pairs of shoes, a set of overalls, and live right across the street on the Alameda. What about students from the Seattle and Portland areas? Two days hardy seems sufficient to move from their homes hundreds of miles away.

And, granted, students could have still moved in after that weekend, into the school week. But we are on the quarter system, and classes are in full swing by the middle of the first week. Who wants to worry about a paper while they're still unpacking their underwear?

Other schools, such as Stanford, give their students the full weekend, starting Friday, and they are on quarter system as well. Loyola Marymount also gives the full weekend. The University of California at Irvine gives their new freshmen a whole week to move in.

So why not residents at Santa Clara? Unfortunately, housing couldn't be reached this week for comment.

For extra move-in days, we are sure most Santa Clara students would give up a few days of that long Christmas vacation to get settled in before the new school year. Even a Friday move-in would be sufficient to curb the weekend anxiety. As students, we aren't asking for a whole lot, if we demand the full weekend.

So to housing and to the administrators: Santa Clara students aren't nomads. We need time like every other mover. If the objective is to house 75 percent of students in these gloriously planned communities, then hey, give us a few days to get settled in before the year begins.