Lack of AC in many college dorms

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ridiculous. I went to Hopkins in Baltimore and when I was a sophomore, I found a used window AC unit in the paper and bought it from the money I made in my on campus job. I paid about $40 for an old AC unit, put it in my window and had AC in my room. I left the dorms in my junior year and moved it to the apartment I had. I was popular, and had friends that would come over on hot days to play cards in my room since I had the AC unit. After I graduated, I stayed in my apartment for another few years because I had a job down at Hopkins Hospital. When I finally left, I was moving out to the DC suburbs to take a job in the DC area. I donated my window AC unit to my old roommates because the condo I was moving to had central AC.

Now, window AC units are cheap. You can get one that will be enough for a college/apartment bedroom for about $150. If you want one for a bigger area like a living room, it's like $300. If the kid has roommates, they can chip in to buy one new. Or, the rich private college parents can buy one. There is no reason that the university needs to pay for central AC which will be significantly more costly for the university than window units for the kids who really want/need one, especially in an area that doesn't need one more than a few weeks out of the year.

You sound extremely out of touch. A/C units are not allowed in these old dorms! The electrical system can’t handle it. I would have no problem buying a window unit for my kid to use in an un-airconditioned dorm - if we were allowed to!

Not quite. They do allow large fans. I had one in my circa 1800s for at
Harvard law and DD was handed one free at Yale when she signed in. Yes it’s miserable in septet and May but I did have a personal fireplace which was pretty cool during the winter monthsx

"Not quite"?? A large fan is NOT an A/C unit! Of course they allow large fans - most kids have two in their windows alone, and others throughout the room. Why on earth would you think they would allow an A/C unit?

I said "not quite" because you arrogantly espoused the statement above without any factual knowledge: "you sound extremely out of touch. A/C units are not allowed in these old dorms! The electrical system can’t handle it". How do you know the system can't handle it? My dorm at Havard law was built in 1879. I had no A/C and only steam heat. I was lucky if I got hot water up to my fifth-level garret. We were NOT allowed fans because of the stress on the system since the entire complex was built before conventional use of the light bulb (yes, 1882 invented but not in public use for another 50 years). There were no electrical fans in 1979

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If these dorms were being used by adults, there is no freaking way they'd get by without A/C. It would be installed immediately. But since it's "only" teens/young adults who have to sleep there, it's perfectly ok to make them sweat and get no sleep. Really, a disgusting mentality.

This. Also, AC serves to control humidity and also produces a significant improvement in air quality and filters out dust, mold, pollen, etc. Those of us who have allergies would not have been able to sleep or breathe properly for much of our college time without it.

And, agreed that adults would insist on air conditioning. College students should, too.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ridiculous. I went to Hopkins in Baltimore and when I was a sophomore, I found a used window AC unit in the paper and bought it from the money I made in my on campus job. I paid about $40 for an old AC unit, put it in my window and had AC in my room. I left the dorms in my junior year and moved it to the apartment I had. I was popular, and had friends that would come over on hot days to play cards in my room since I had the AC unit. After I graduated, I stayed in my apartment for another few years because I had a job down at Hopkins Hospital. When I finally left, I was moving out to the DC suburbs to take a job in the DC area. I donated my window AC unit to my old roommates because the condo I was moving to had central AC.

Now, window AC units are cheap. You can get one that will be enough for a college/apartment bedroom for about $150. If you want one for a bigger area like a living room, it's like $300. If the kid has roommates, they can chip in to buy one new. Or, the rich private college parents can buy one. There is no reason that the university needs to pay for central AC which will be significantly more costly for the university than window units for the kids who really want/need one, especially in an area that doesn't need one more than a few weeks out of the year.

You sound extremely out of touch. A/C units are not allowed in these old dorms! The electrical system can’t handle it. I would have no problem buying a window unit for my kid to use in an un-airconditioned dorm - if we were allowed to!

Not quite. They do allow large fans. I had one in my circa 1800s for at
Harvard law and DD was handed one free at Yale when she signed in. Yes it’s miserable in septet and May but I did have a personal fireplace which was pretty cool during the winter monthsx

"Not quite"?? A large fan is NOT an A/C unit! Of course they allow large fans - most kids have two in their windows alone, and others throughout the room. Why on earth would you think they would allow an A/C unit?

I said "not quite" because you arrogantly espoused the statement above without any factual knowledge: "you sound extremely out of touch. A/C units are not allowed in these old dorms! The electrical system can’t handle it". How do you know the system can't handle it? My dorm at Havard law was built in 1879. I had no A/C and only steam heat. I was lucky if I got hot water up to my fifth-level garret. We were NOT allowed fans because of the stress on the system since the entire complex was built before conventional use of the light bulb (yes, 1882 invented but not in public use for another 50 years). There were no electrical fans in 1979

OMG - it's the Harvard poster again! We are very much here in 2022, where college faculty is strict about enforcing the "no A/C units" rule in the old dorms. Why? Because their electrical system cannot handle it. That's a fact.

Also, here in 2022, most dorms were not built in 1879 and can certainly handle multiple fans per room. We are *not* talking about your ancient HLS "garret," for crying out loud. With every post, your proving yourself to be far, far out of touch - not to mention way off-topic.