By: Tue Dinh Tran
Lack of Internet signal, bad security and poor management are some words that are often used to describe the conditions of low-price apartments on remote places. However, what we are referring to is the dormitory used by international students attending Seattle Central Community College. Despite many complaints from residents, the bad conditions of the school’s dormitory still continue.
The dormitory is named The Studios on Broadway. It’s a part of the Broadway building owned by a private company; the school cooperates with the company to open the dormitory for international students. The studios are located at 1640 Broadway, Seattle; opposite the main building of SCCC. Residents have easy access to five different bus lines, and live within walking distance of downtown Seattle. Immediately behind the studios is Cal Anderson Park, which boasts a baseball/soccer field and city tennis courts. The building is also really new and modern with laundry rooms on each floor, parking and bike storage services. With the many features above, the Studios onBroadway should be very useful and convenient for residents. However, because of the poor management by the school and somehow irresponsibility from students, the conditions of the dormitory are becoming worse and worse.
The first problem is Internet access. Students need the Internet to study, work, communicate and entertain themselves every day. However, the Internet signal in the dormitory is very bad. C.L.H, a resident from China, said: “The Internet stopped working a lot of times; each time lasted about one to four days. During the Thanksgiving holiday, I couldn’t access the Internet and I was really angry about it. I always have a lot of homework to do and without the Internet, I couldn’t do anything.”
During the registration time for the new quarter, a lot of students couldn’t access the Internet at home and they had to go outside to register. Some students decided to pay for their own Internet line to have better Internet service, but not many students could afford it.
Recently, Iris Wu, one resident, collected signatures from 59 residents of the dormitory to petition the International Student Center (ISC) and the administrator of the dormitory, to demand immediate action to improve Internet access or refund the Internet fee to each resident. The images below are copies of the petition created by Iris Wu.
The second problem in the dorm is security: the building has digital key access and only one entrance with a security camera. But some residents discovered that they could get into the building without the key by pulling the door hard. Unfortunately, some homeless men noticed this and tried to get into the building.
T.V.L, a Vietnamese student, said: “I often see the homeless sleeping on a stair; maybe it’s too cold outside so they find this apartment an ideal place to sleep. I had reported this to the ISC, but there was no change.” But sadly the homeless didn’t just sleep, T said: “One night I washed my clothes and forgot them in the laundry room. The next morning I came back and discovered all my clothes had been stolen. I don’t believe anybody in this building stole my clothes, except the homeless guy. I told to an officer of the ISC; he promised he would help me find my clothes, but eventually nothing happened.”
Because the building doesn’t have any security guard, the ISC has two assistants who were also living in the dorm to manage its operations. In fact, two people were not enough to manage the dorm. Therefore, some illegal activities happened in the dorm, such as the use of alcohol and cigarettes. The dorm’s policy prohibits alcohol and cigarettes, but some residents often drink and smoke inside the building; they also hold parties with loud music in the evening, after 10 PM, which is also illegal.
Another problem is strange guests from outside. The policy claims that residents have to be responsible for their guests and the guests can only stay in the dorm for a maximum of four days a quarter. But actually, many students live with their friends in their apartments. T.T.N, a resident, said that: “Even though my apartment is only for four people, two of my roommates brought their girlfriends to live with them. It’s very inconvenient and annoying. They lived like husband and wife; they usually made noise at night and held gross parties on the weekend. It made me unable to concentrate on my studies.”
In December 2010, two residents in room 4X were expelled because they held a noisy party with beer after 10 PM. And recently, Z.L, one of the two assistants of the ISC, was forced to leave the dorm because his roommate reported to the ISC that he lived with his girlfriend for months in his room. But they are only a few cases that were reported.
To find a reason for these problems, H.L, a resident, said: “I guess the main reason for this is the poor management from the ISC. They didn’t have enough assistants and their assistants didn’t work well; they have no immediate and effective actions to improve the conditions of this dorm. Another reason is the poor sense of responsibility from students. Maybe because most of the residents are international students from Asia, they might be afraid to report problems to the administrator. They choose to keep silent and ignore everything. That’s why the school didn’t know much about the conditions of the dormitory.”
Seattle Central Community College is one of the best community colleges in Washington State, and its dormitory has a lot of advantages such as location and quality. However, the school has to pay more attention and invest more money in managing the dormitory. The poor conditions of the dormitory reduce the attractiveness of the school for international students and affect the reputation of the school.
