Housing officials have received complaints from students about cold dorm rooms. Students have been sleeping with multiple blankets and in sweatshirts and buying their own space heaters to stay warm through the night.

Housing officials say this is due to a natural build-up of iron oxide in the heating system pipes, which blocks heat flow from the individual radiators in students' rooms. Because this build-up occurs naturally, the Office of Physical Plant (OPP) should have been prepared to pre-empt any negative effect this blockage would cause. Isn't winter break supposed to be used to check items like the heating system to avoid these pit falls?

What's worse is that OPP has done work over the summer to improve these heating systems in the older dorms on campus like West and North Halls, though fewer complaints have come from these areas.

Students are already paying so much for a college education, not including housing expenses, so this is unacceptable. Having to pay for a space heater when students living in the dorms are paying already close to $1,800 to live in a building that is supposed to be supplying them with effective heating is unfair and unnecessary. Not to mention that space heaters are on the black list of items not allowed in dorm rooms, so students have to resort to breaking the rules to stay warm.

There's also the issue of energy. The heating system is still turned on, whether it is being effective or not, so the energy that goes unused in these cold dorm rooms is completely wasted. For a university that seems so dedicated to saving energy and remaining environmentally friendly, this is a grave problem. Students should take it upon themselves to be informed and read those pesky information sheets left under their doors or on top of their microwave or fridge when they return from winter break. Those pamphlets remind students to remove items from the area surrounding the radiator to help the warm air circulate in the rooms better, so part of the problem is a lack of awareness.

The good news is that the OPP response to these problems has been timely, responding to student calls and e-mails within 24 hours. So as long as students do their part and inform the OPP of the problems they are experiencing, the problem will be resolved in a timely fashion. Keeping complaints about spending chilly nights in dorm rooms to yourself is foolish. If your room is uncomfortable, tell someone.

State College winter's can get bitterly cold, students should be able to find warmth in their rooms.