Students wanting to leave on-campus options for their own place away from Point Park’s cut of Downtown is not a new phenomenon. Read about where students were going in this February 26, 1980 article (hint: they weren’t staying Downtown at all).
When Billy Joel crooned “If that’s movin’ up then I’m movin’ out,” he wasn’t referring to Point Park’s rising room and board fees. His words, however, aptly express the reactions of many students to the increased planned for next September.
Room and board fees will rise from $780 to $900 per semester for double and triple rooms and from $880 to $1000 for a single room. Rather than pay the new rates, many students are investigating alternative housing such as apartments.
According to Housing Director Janet Evans, a decrease in the number of residents next semester won’t be a first; there has been a substantial decrease in recent years. In the fall of the 1978-79 academic year there were 373 PPC dormers and in the fall 1979-80 there were only 311. A loss of 62 residents in a year.
Evans sides with some students in the belief that the dorm increase will have a deleterious affect.
“I think it (the increase) is too high considering the dorms are a mess,” Evans said. “I could see paying that much if they were in good condition, but they’re not.”
“I think it will cause a decrease in dorm students,” she added. “They will move out to apartments.”
Two roommates, Jackie Strinkghill and Joy Macosta, are planning to do that before next semester rolls around. They plan to move to the Cricklewood Hill Apartments, near Duquesne University, with a third person in May.Macosta, a sophomore medical technology major, professes to be looking forward to the roominess of an apartment as compared to her small Lawrence Hall room.
“Here, I’d be paying $225 a month,” she figured. “For the apartment I’ll only pay $156, not including food. But I only eat one meal a day anyway and half the time I don’t like what I’m eating here.”
The apartment Macosta and Strinkghill are interested in is on the fifth floor of Cricklewood. For three people, it will cost $468 a month, including utilities. Apartments on higher floors of Cricklewood cost more, with 14th floor housing, for example, priced at $534 a month.
While Cricklewood is very close to downtown Pittsburgh, Oakland and Shadyside apartments seem to be more popular with Point Park students. Theater majors, especially, prefer the Oakland area because of its proximity to the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
According to Harryette Mullolly of Daniels Realty Co., a two-bedroom apartment for four, in Oakland, rents for $348 a month including electricity. That divides into $87 per person.
Of course, each situation varies. Some apartments only include electricity in the rent while others include no utilities at all. Food, phone bills, and transportation expenses are obstacles prospective apartment dwellers should allow space for in their budgeting.
Much of the negative reaction of students to the dorm increases stems from their disbelief the extra money will benefit them in the future. Amongst the reasons stated by Dr. John Hopkins, college president, for raising the tuition and dorm fees was planned renovations of the dormitory areas.
This failed to win the support of Rich Fisher, a resident of the 14th floor of Lawrence Hall. “Every year the tuition goes up and every year the school looks the same,” he stated.
In agreement with Fisher, senior John Visnick commented, “It’s outrageous. I could see it if they were going to something with the money, but . . .,” he trailed off.
[Editor’s Note: The Pittsburgh Playhouse was in Oakland at the time, which is why the area around Pitt’s campus was a popular choice for theater majors to stay.]
