| Princeton Review ranks UMR |
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| Written by Adam Venezia | |
 The Princeton Review recently released its best and worst lists for the year. UMR ranked number 11 on the “Is It Food?” list and number 12 on the “Dorms Like Dungeons” list. It’s a bold pair of statements. So the first thing I did was to get on their website, www.princetonreview.com, to find out how they justified these claims. The short answer is, they didn’t. There is no explanation of any kind. There’s no context. There are no details. There is only this raw numerical statistic that doesn’t say much of anything.As an aside, I’d like to point out that the school that ranked number 3 on the “Dorms Like Dungeons” list is the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I have one thing to say to the students of the University of Hawaii at Manoa: Stop complaining! You live in a tropical island paradise. If you’re not comfortable in your dorm, go outside, go to the beach, and drink pineapple juice out of a coconut. I digress. Elsewhere on the website, there is a selection of quotes from surveyed students. While they do not relate directly to the statistics, they do give some insight as to the quality of their surveying process. The Princeton Review describes UMR as “a school of nerds: run by the nerd and for the nerd. Geeks of all looks, smells, and intelligence thrive here.” Rolla itself is described as “a small hick town with nothing to do.” These comments are weak and juvenile, and speak badly of the quality of The Princeton Review’s evaluation. But, that doesn’t mean that we can just shrug off these comments. UMR consistently ranks on both of these lists. So, are they right? I interviewed residents at each of UMR’s three dorms. When asked whether or not UMR deserved to rank on the “Is It Food?” list, Philip Dodd, who lived two years at TJ, a year in The Palace, and is now living for a second year in the Quad, said “It doesn’t look like food, so yeah, I’d say it’s fair.” When questioned as to whether or not the school deserved to be on the “Dorms Like Dungeons” list, he said that the school did belong on the list, citing the fact that many of the buildings are made of concrete and cinder blocks. Jason Bright, who lived at TJ for a year, and is now in his second year at the Residential College, said “There are dorms like dungeons, but this dorm is not like a dungeon,” referring to the Res College. So maybe the school is starting to move in the right direction, and won’t continue to appear on these lists. He said also, in regard to the food available at the Havener Center, “If I want to pay eight dollars for food, I can go to a restaurant and pay eight dollars for food.” This comment suggests that higher quality food is available, but obviously it is going to cost more than the standard price. Alex Jacques, a graduate student who is now in his ninth semester on TJ North, in the same room in fact, clearly did not have much bad to say about the quality of life in the dorms. When asked whether or not UMR deserved to be on the “Is it food?” list, he said “It’s fine with me. I like having choices.” Although this sentiment is not shared by many, it does at least show that people’s opinions of Chartwells’ food service are not unanimous. There is a wide range of opinions on both sides of these arguments. On the “Dorms Like Dungeons” side of things, there is a fairly even split of opinions, which is understandable, because there is a sizable gap in quality from one dorm to the next. On the “Is It Food?” side, there are far more opponents of Chartwells’ food service than there are supporters, but the dissenting voices are there. In both cases, those who choose dorm life (when they are not required to do so by the school) choose it because it is easier and more convenient than finding a nine-month lease or figuring out how to pay for and baby-sit a house through the summer months. And, while living in the dorms, since the money has already been sunk into a meal plan, it is hard for a poor college student to justify letting that money go to waste and spending more elsewhere. |
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