Dorms can be expensive when staying for the holidays

By DaKota Hilburn

College is expensive for everyone, whether it’s tuition, books, or housing.

Every year students living on campus pay roughly $5,000 for their housing and meal plans. For some, this is the most expensive thing they pay for all year.

Students off campus may not know this, but for the students living on campus who want to stay and work over breaks, they have to pay $9 a day to stay.

Dana Hinshaw, director of residence life, said “the fee is the Board of Trustees rate per person and is used for utilities and making sure we have a security guard on staff.”

She also pointed out that just a few years ago, you had to have an official HCC reason to stay in the dorms over break, such as basketball or other activities.

Some things students need to remember to do if they are staying in the dorms during break is to let Hinshaw or Ann Marie Burk know so they can get them into the door security system for the days they will be staying.

If students are not in the system for those days, their ID cards, when swiped through the scanners on the doors, will not unlock the doors. The doors are kept locked 24 hours a day.

Students also need to remember that there are different rules during break — such as there is no open visitation during break.

The cafeteria is not open during breaks. This means the students will have to fend for themselves for food.

Also, no matter if you are in sports or not, everyone is charged the fee if they stay over break.

Hinshaw also pointed out that so far, 73 out of 550 students living in the dorms have stayed at least one night during breaks, or came one or more days early for the 2014-2015 school year.

Most of these students included men and women’s basketball players, Dragon Dolls and cheerleaders, as well as football, soccer, volleyball, cross country, and debate/forensics students.

Hinshaw said all students think they will have a blast staying over break, but quickly realize that it gets a little boring.

She said most students complain about no one being in the dorms — and that they are hungry.

She says it is easy for them to walk over to a convenience store, Bogey’s, or Papa John’s for food.

She recommends going home over break, even if it is just staying with a friend.

Sure, it could be tempting to complain about the fees for staying in the dorms during breaks.

But after speaking with the director of residence life, this plan seems to make perfect sense.

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