Let’s say a freshman requests a triple room in a traditional-style dorm. He or she will pay $5,558 for the year. Sophomore year comes around, and this somewhat more affordable housing option is no longer available. The next cheapest on-campus option is a traditional-style double at $7,360 a year. If by junior year, that student wants to live in Millbrook, he or she will have to pay an extra $1,000 for a double or an additional $2,000 for a single. These numbers do not even include the newest housing options offered by the University. The brand new Village East is the most expensive housing option yet, offering only singles at a whopping $10,906. Over the course of those three or four years, the student’s housing costs have essentially doubled. Why is the University only building more expensive housing instead of making the effort to cut costs and provide more affordable on-campus options? How do these new housing options pave the way for a debt-free student body (a goal of the University’s new Plan For Excellence)?

The Office of Residential Life consistently urges for diversity and community in on-campus housing, but how much diversity is there if students in financial need are being driven off campus by exorbitant housing costs? Nine months of rent (plus utilities) for an apartment two blocks away is about $5,000. That’s less than half the cost of a room in Village East! Tuition and food costs are only going up; shouldn’t the University be striving to keep prices down wherever possible? And even if financial aid often goes toward minimizing rising housing costs, it would be money better spent on a more practical housing option. The new Village East housing offers dishwashers, bath tubs, big beds and leather couches—sounds great—but which students are really going to be able to afford this new deluxe style of living? Where’s the diversity now?

Instead of attempting to boost its image through fancy housing, perhaps the University should be seeking to accommodate all students from every financial background. Instead of on-campus housing being split between new and old or expensive and less expensive, housing should be uniform and cost-effective in order to be affordable to as many students as possible. Only after taking these steps can the University claim to be building a truly diverse on-campus living community.

While both construction projects are proceeding on schedule, Carroll says that there are also plans to improve access around the construction sites for students.

A path will be laid out in between Rubelmann and Beaumont Houses, while another one will be laid out on the east side of the site near the Liggett-Koenig building.

Currently, students must either walk through the Wohl Parking Garage or between Beaumont and the JKL Residential College. However, students will soon be able to access the north side of the Wohl Center.

Carroll says that work has already begun on the foundations of the new buildings.

“I’m sure by the semester break we’ll see the steel up and the foundations in place and things starting to take shape. We’ll be able to occupy both Umrath as well as the first half of Wohl by next summer,” Carroll said.

Carroll said that construction projects at Washington University such as those on the North Side and the Danforth University Center have gone smoothly, and he is confident that the South 40 construction will as well.

“Village East came in ahead of schedule. We were able to get in and clean and move furniture in late July long before the students came back.”

Carroll also said that there are factors that cannot be controlled that will influence how quickly the construction will be completed.

“[The contractors] have their plan, and if we get a major fall rainy season or a big snow, that could throw things off, but they are on schedule to meet a deadline for us to be able to use [the buildings] by next fall,” Carroll said.

After the buildings are completed, Rubelmann and the existing Wohl Center will be removed. Work on the structures, however, may experience delays as safety remains the top priority during the construction project.

“Safety has been the number one thing mentioned time and time again by the University. That is the foremost important thing we are concerned about. It’s stressed every meeting,” Carroll said.

The excavation will be completed in the coming weeks, which means that there will be less truck traffic from the construction site.

“The contractor is supposed to provide somebody there to help people get around. They have people keeping an eye out for students’ safety and making sure that pedestrians don’t interfere with the trucks and vice versa,” Carroll said.

Despite the presence of these safety personnel, Carroll stresses the importance of students taking some responsibility for their South 40 experience.

“I notice frequently that even though there is a sidewalk along Shepley, people are often walking down the middle of the drive,” Carroll said.

Another concern is that, due to the construction, more students are using Wallace Drive to get to the Danforth Campus. Carroll said that improvements have been made along Wallace Drive to facilitate that change, including an additional sidewalk, crosswalk and better lighting.

“If additional steps need to be taken to make it a safe place to walk, we can do that as well. If [students] go that way, we want it to be a safe way to travel,” he said.

Carroll said that he hopes fewer people will use Wallace Drive once the new paths are in place. The improvements to Wallace were added because of student input.

But Sophomore Ambrose Wu said that the construction makes it inconvenient to get around the South 40.

“I can’t get to Bear’s Den on my way back to my dorm. I have to go over by Liggett-Koenig. I’ll get used to it eventually,” Wu said.