Prospectus

In recent years, there have been a growing number of colleges and universities that are requiring not only freshman, but sophomores to live on campus. I will argue that although this policy presents its conveniences, it may be seen as unfair to those who desire to live off campus as well as forcing students to aid the university. This is an important issue to be addressed because starting in the '09-'10 school year, Miami University of Ohio will be adopting this policy. This is also interesting because from what I have personally observed, many first-years do not know about the new policy; despite the fact that it specifically affects the class of ’12 (we will be sophomores next year). Personally, before I became aware of the policy, I was not jumping up and down to live off campus however, it was nice knowing that I had the choice and I do not like the idea of having my mind made up for me, especially since I will have had a year of college experience under my belt. Because of this, I believe that it is vital that the logistics of the policy are exposed. My paper will take a journalistic tone and I will attempt to take a non-bias approach in presenting the issue. My target audience will be college students of colleges who have adapted/will be adapting this policy, specifically those attending Miami University; even more specifically, the class of 2012. I will incorporate blogs, essays, and articles written by college students because they know about college living better than anyone else. However, adult perspectives will be incorporated as well. I will begin by explaining why sophomores living on campus might not be the worst thing in the world; they will be closer to classes, no scary bills, familiarity, etc. But I will then go into how the policy may perhaps be seen as negative and how it may appear that the policy was put in place to better the university financially along with its reputation. With all of this, I will argue that the policy of sophomores being required to live off campus is not fair.

Works Cited

R., Anthony. "Anthony ." MIT Admissions. 24/02/2008. Massichusets Institute of Technology. 28 Oct 2008

.

· Anthony, a student at MIT, blogs about his experience with campus living; both when he was a freshman living on campus, and as an upperclassman, living off campus. He ultimately likes living off campus better.

Castle, Jenny. "Living Off Campus in M Street Apartments." Geroga Tech. 12/08/2008. Georga Tech. 28 Oct 2008

.

· Jenny Castle is a Georgia Tech student who has joined a sorority after her sophomore year. She is blogging about living off campus in her sorority house and how she loves it because she feels like it is helping her transition into the real world.

Kasper, Matt. "Off-campus Jacksonville housing tough to police." The Anniston Star Police Blog. 03/10/2006. The

Anniston Star. 28 Oct 2008

tough.html>.

· Matt Kasper Blogs for The Anniston Star, “keeping tabs on crime, court and police news in east Alabama.” This blog entry is about how an apartment complex in that hosts many Jacksonville State University students has been seen to be a hindrance to students’ success because of many factors including its lack of quiet hours and crime.

Towey, Sean. "Sophomores living on campus a non-issue." The Spectator. 23/04/2008. The Spectaror: Seattle

University. 28 Oct 2008

spectator.com/media/storage/paper948/news/2008/04/23/Opinion/Sophomores.Living.OnCampus.A.No

nIssue-3384209.shtml>.

· Sean Towey of Seattle University’s “The Spectator” blogs about how the rule of sophomores living on campus is poorly enforced in the sense that they are finding ways to beat the system. Towey also notes that the university in fact could care less about whether or not sophomores live off campus as long as the residence halls remained “financially viable.”

Dorner, Drew. "Next round of planning underway for soph living requirement." The Miami Student.

9/02/2007. The Miami Student: Miami University. 28 Oct 2008

Round.Of.Planning.Underway.For.Soph.Living.Requirement-2708987.shtml>.

· Drew Dorner, a journalist for “The Miami Student”, outlines the new policy of sophomores being required to live on campus

Associated Press, "Upperclassmen live in dorms." The Lantern. 10/07/2008. The Lantern: Ohio State University. 28 Oct 2008

n.Live.In.Dorms-3472985-page2.shtml>.

· “The Lantern”, an Ohio State University newspaper notes how the trend of living on campus is growing in upperclassmen.

Board of Student Editors, "sophomores should be allowed to live off campus." WKU Herald. 03/04/2004. WKU

Herald. 28 Oct 2008

hould.Be.Allowed.To.Live.Off.Campus-625950.shtml>.

· The Board of Student Editors for the Western Kentucky University newspaper, “The WKU Herald”, have wrote an article describing why they think that sophomores should be able to live off campus.