Daniel McQuade: In support of UA's freshman housing

Pop quiz: Who will have a tougher time adjusting to the fall semester -- a junior or a freshman? OK, how about a senior or a freshman?

Pretty much a no-brainer, huh. The University really needs to do as much as possible to make the transition into college as smooth as possible for the 2,400 or so first-years who come into Penn each fall.

That being said, the Undergraduate Assembly's recent proposal to create "Freshman Recommended Housing" marks one of the best ideas the UA has come up with in a while.

It's not a huge jump from what Penn currently has: Specific college houses -- Hill, the Quadrangle houses, perhaps others -- would be designated as ideal for freshmen, and every newcomer who wanted housing in one of the "recommended" housing units would receive it.

The proposal wouldn't force anyone to live in the Quad or Hill. It wouldn't prevent anyone from living in DuBois or Van Pelt or one of the specialty programs such as STWing. The program would prevent freshmen from ending up in situations where they live in an off-the-path college house and feel left out.

Now, that's not to put down any of the other college houses. Just because this system is in place doesn't mean that a frosh can't have a good experience in, say, Gregory. But if someone wants to live with 1,000 other first-year students, shouldn't they be able to? If Penn's business is its students, shouldn't these students be as comfortable as possible in order to foster learning?

While implementation may be tough, the UA members should fight to pass at least this part of the proposal, which would benefit the undergraduate population immensely.

Two days ago in an editorial, the board of The Daily Pennsylvanian brought up some legitimate concerns. However, the objections that the DP brought up are a bit off, despite the good intentions behind them.

First off, to write off a proposal because "its execution will be difficult" is pure bollocks. Please. Nothing ever gets done quickly or easily at this University. It's the nature of a bureaucracy-- everything takes a while to get done. If there's a good idea, try and implement it, regardless of how hard it is.

And sure, displacement of upperclassmen is a valid concern. UA Chairman Jason Levy says the proposal doesn't displace anyone, and it seems like it doesn't. The main goal of the "Freshman Recommended Housing" proposal is to create additional "freshman" college houses and attempt to create a similar atmosphere at, say, Kings Court, as there is in the Quad.

Still, it seems that some upperclassman could end up living in the high rises when he or she wants to live somewhere else. Sure, it's a drawback.

But Penn isn't Harvard or Yale: While 5 to 15 percent of undergrads there live off campus, about 40 percent of Penn students trek a few blocks west into houses and apartments. Displacement at either of those two universities -- where many students live in the same house for four years -- would be much more of an issue.

At Penn, most students don't live in the same college house for four years. To be honest, the College House system has really only worked in the way the University has wanted it to at smaller houses, like DuBois or Stouffer -- where it's easier to foster a sense of community -- and in the specialty programs like Perspectives in Humanities or STWing. Despite the best efforts of administrators, it's pretty hard to build community when there are 24 different floors.

It's a pretty safe bet that the number of people who live in the Quad for four years is very low, but there's enough space to accommodate them. The main goal of the UA's proposal is to make sure every freshman gets a chance to live in an atmosphere similar to the Quad or Hill if one wishes.

Look, if there's a junior or senior who can't get into the Quad if this "Freshman Recommended Housing" proposal gets implemented, that's really unfortunate. But a junior or senior who is forced to live in the high rises could handle it much better than a freshman forced into a similar situation.

There are drawbacks, but everything has them. And, looking at the drawbacks of upperclassmen being forced to live somewhere they don't want to -- which isn't 100 percent likely to happen, anyway -- it seems that the benefit of helping freshmen adjust to college outweighs everything else.

Maybe this proposal doesn't really change much. Sure, it could be a little unnecessary, but it is important to get things down in writing rather than have freshmen strewn about campus.

Maybe it needs a little tweaking, but it's certainly well intentioned, and you don't have to take a pop quiz to realize that this is a good idea.

Daniel McQuade is a senior English major from Philadelphia, Pa., and former 34th Street managing editor. Lone Wolf McQuade appears on Thursdays.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.