Wringing Out the Problem
Raquel Metcalf
40588

My family always expected two things of me, to make exceptional grades and to attend college. My family also expected me to find as many scholarships as I could my senior year of high school to pay for college. I come from a poor background, so although they wanted me to go to college they knew I would not be able to afford it without student loans or scholarships. I did exactly what they wanted me to do. I got into college and to pay for all the expenses for school, I found numerous scholarships by my grades and researches. Upon entering college I soon discovered that although I did everything I possibly could to avoid paying for anything, I was still left with one more annoying and unnecessary fee, of paying for laundry. In order to solve this ghastly problem the school should either include free use of all laundry facilities or have a fee set into the tuition and fees bill so we do not have to deal with the hassle of change or putting money on our Warhawk express account. The cost of attendance here at the University of Louisiana at Monroe is $19,546, and that is if you are a resident of Louisiana staying on campus. For students who are out of state or international staying on campus the cost of attendance is $31,646. After paying that substantial amount of money to attend school for just one year, this school expects us to administer a tad bit more money just to wash and dry our clothes.
In my residential dormitory, Commons I, there are three washing machines and three dryers on my floor. The washing machine costs $1.25 a load and the dryer is the same. The washer has a set time of 26 minutes. The dryer’s set time is an hour. The first problem with these machines is the fact they cost to use. Unless you are a student who lives in the campus apartments, or you know someone who lives in the apartments, you have to pay to wash your laundry on campus. It is inconvenient for residents to pay for laundry when having to pay for many other expenses such as food, bills, and luxury items. The machines take quarters or Warhawk Express, which remains problematic because I myself, rarely carry change or put money into my Warhawk Express account. The second problem is that the set times are unpredictable and impractical. The washing machines set times says 26 minutes but takes about 35-40 minutes to wash. The set time of an hour to dry clothes is too long. Normally the clothes are dry within 20 or 30 minutes. I say normally because sometimes I have to add another $1.25 to the dryer so that my clothes completely dry.
I am unaware if the issue of malfunctioning machines are on every floor in every dormitory, but I am aware that residents should not have to pay money to do laundry. The cost of living on campus ranges from $1,302 to $2,657 per semester. If I washed and dried three loads of clothes every week for a 17 week semester that equals to an extra $127.50 That is an extra $255 each year that could go towards other things such as bills or food. The first proposed solution to this horrendous problem is to remove all cost to do laundry all together. If the proposal to eliminate all cost was put into action I believe it would benefit the residents considerably, by removing stress, even if it is just a little, of worrying about having extra money just to do laundry. In order to achieve free laundry, I would go to the Residential Life director and propose the idea to her. Explaining the cost of attendance, meal plan, food, and luxury items, and overall stress that comes with being a college student should be a reasonable enough justification on why the machines should be free. The only downside to this solution is if doing laundry was free then it gives not only the residents, but whomever else laundry they choose to bring in, an opportunity to have free laundry. I still believe if the costs disappeared then the benefit of having extra money would outweigh the possibility of a random person’s laundry being done. The next solution would be adding the cost of washing and drying three loads a week to the tuition and fees bill, that way the hassle of constantly adding money to the Warhawk Express account or finding quarters can be removed. I also think that if a wash and dry is not used one week it should be added to the next week and accumulate throughout the semester. The solution of adding the cost of washing and one drying to the fee bill is practical because it takes care of the laundry costs for each semester at the beginning of each semester, just like every other fee we pay. Students could swipe their I.D cards each time a week they wish to wash and dry their clothes.
The wash-and-dry system would be similar to the printing system here. Each student get a set amount of 150 prints a week. If there are prints left over one week it is added to the next week and accumulates over time. This solution is practical because the school already has two systems that work like that, the print system and the meal plan. Adding this along to the tuition and fees bill would be no difference.
In order to enact this plan I think first a petition would be made and proposed to the director of Residential Life who would probably have to run it by the President of the school. After configuring the amount into the school budget I believe the proposal would be a great solution to the laundry problem. Fees such as, matriculation, operational, and energy surcharge, just to name a few, are already configured into the tuition and fee bill. If this problem is not handled innocent quarters and dollars that could be going to Chick-fa-la chicken sandwiches or Caniac meals, could be lost. In order to handle the despicable epidemic of paying to do laundry, we students must propose the idea of eliminating the laundry fee all together, or adding it to the tuition and fee bill, something that is taken care of and handled at the beginning of each semester. Not only are the solutions practical, but they are time saving as well. There would be no more hassle of fiddling for quarters or worrying about not having enough to wash. Removing or rearranging the cost of laundry will release one less thing to stress about for ULM students.