In response to Ajit Londhe's letter, "Sub-par dorms aren't equal to money paid (April 13)":

I lived in East Halls for two semesters, much the same as most students who began at University Park. I don't seem to remember any of these intense hardships that Londhe seems to have. Let's begin with the area, much like Londhe. Yes, East Halls is farther away from most classroom buildings and downtown than any other dorms on campus. This could create some inconveniences as far as travel goes. However, there is this nice service we have here on campus called the Loop. Then we have this thing called walking. Another easy alternative could be a bicycle, which makes on-campus travel much easier and faster than walking.

Let's move on to the rooms. Londhe mentioned lack of luxuries like large dressers, shelves, closets and floor space. I'm sorry to break it to you, but after living in other residence halls, I can assure you that what you have in East is not any worse than what anyone else has. In my room in Pollock, I do have more floor space than what I had in East; but as a tradeoff, the room is physically smaller, the desks are smaller, and we have less closet space.

On to the food we go. I certainly don't remember eating sub-par food at Findlay Commons. In fact, it was some of the best food I have eaten during my time here. I'm afraid to break it to you, but every commons on campus uses the same ingredients and prepares food in the same manner. They also all share the exact same beverage supplies. I'm sure that there are times when the food may be worse than others, but if you have ever been to Warnock Commons (which you called "best") late on a Friday afternoon, you will find the same sort of trends can occur every now and then.

Sure, things could be improved everywhere, but that does not mean that anyone's money is getting handled better than anyone else's. Now that you're ending your first year here, you can always leave and find some other university that doesn't have the same residence hall issues.

That is, if you can find one -- because I assure you that not many exist.