By Jonathan Hiser
As the spring semester comes to a close, UP students must think about housing for next year. One option previously overlooked by most students - theme houses - has grown increasingly popular this year. Residence Life approved two additional houses for the 2009-2010 year in Tyson Hall, bringing the total number to four.
Theme houses, located solely in Tyson Hall, are largely student-run apartments designed to contribute socially and culturally to a particular issue on campus.
This past year, the theme houses available were limited to the Foreign Language and Faith and Leadership houses. Next school year, Tyson will add the Peer Health Educator House and the Green house, which focuses on environmental sustainability.
Director of Residence Life Mike Walsh credits the doubling in both houses and applicants to the reduced housing costs. For the last three years, the cost of room and board in the Village theme houses was lowered to the same cost as a traditional hall to encourage students to make the change from dorm living to row housing.
Walsh said the investment is starting to pay off, indicating that cost is the major obstacle in getting students to move into Village housing.
"Students and faculty love the idea, but paying $1,200 extra can really be a problem," Walsh said. "Getting this reduction has been really, really important because it has doubled the population of our two houses the first year we did it, and now it's also doubled the number of houses; so it's just exploding,"
Junior Sarah Eldrige, who lives in the Faith and Leadership house, said she believed that the lower cost of the theme houses does take some of the bite out of living in the Village, but added that it never factored into her decision to live in Tyson.
Walsh said he hopes to extend the cost reduction to all the apartments in Tyson in order to diversify the student community. The ultimate goal at Residence Life is for all of Tyson to consist of theme housing.
"In the theme houses you see a great diversity of students," Walsh said. "If you did that for the whole Village, you'd see a much more diverse group, which would hopefully lead to greater student involvement, participation and community."
Currently more than 60 percent of the Village population is enrolled in ROTC, which covers room and board, eliminating the cost barrier entirely.
Senior Wes Studer said he would have welcomed a reduction in housing costs, but noted it wouldn't motivate him to join or create a theme house.
"I think it would bring a whole bunch of different groups to Tyson, but I don't know about it increasing activism," Walker said. "It's not an obvious connection to me."
Vice President of Financial Affairs Denis Ransmeier agrees that the gap between traditional residence halls and the Village could be narrowed, but noted that it might take several years to accomplish. Given the financial climate, the odds of reducing costs or rates in any place are slim, Ransmeier said.
"Costs are always going up and it's pretty hard to bring down rates," Ransmeier said. "It's not going to happen for this coming year, but it's something that as we plan towards the future, we need to look at."
Walsh said he has high hopes for the theme houses, expecting the number to continue to grow, so long as the reduction of cost continues.
