I read with interest the article entitled Senior residents still live at GW in the Sept. 11 Hatchet (p. 6). I live in The Schenley this year and am curious to learn more about the residents I have seen in the residence hall. I was amazed when I came to the sentence, Schutjer said the tenants of The Schenley can remain in their apartments for about $300 a month. I wondered how that price compared to how much I paid to live in the Schenley.

I live in a regular-size double, which is the smallest room in The Schenley: efficiency in the terms of apartments. I assume that this is the size of the room in which the non-student resident lives. I pay $3,350 per semester. Two semesters at that price divided by the nine months that I live here translates into approximately $745 per month including utilities.

When people share an apartment, they typically split the rent. Comparing my room situation to an apartment, that means that my roommate and I are evenly splitting our rent. So, while I am paying $745 per month, my roommate is also paying $745 per month. That means that we are being charged $1,490 a month for our efficiency.

To give the University the benefit of the doubt, I assume that the $300 a month does not include utilities. Supposing an electric bill of $20 per month, a gas bill of $25 per month, water and sewer at $15 per month, cable at $30 per month and a maintenance charge of $15 per month, utility costs translate to $105 per month. Add those bills to the monthly rent and a non-traditional resident is living in an efficiency in The Schenley for $405 per month.

I do realize that D.C. laws regulate and control rental rates, which justifies the inexpensive rental rate for a non-traditional resident in The Schenley. However, I doubt that those D.C. laws can justify the $1000 per month extra that my roommate and I are being charged for this space. So, the next time that University officials expect students to be apathetic to our exorbitant costs of living, I hope they figure out that they should not reveal how much a non-student resident pays for the same-sized apartment in which a student lives.
-Naomi Hackenbergsophomore