With the start of the Fall 2014 semester, students at Keene State College are beginning to see new changes in the laundry system in their on-campus residences.
According to Jim Carley, KSC resident life’s associate director for facilities and business, laundry on campus is now included in students’ housing fees and is paid at the beginning of the semester, along with the regular on-campus fees.
The fee for on-campus housing went up $60 per-year and tuition was not affected by this change, according to Carley.
“A lot of schools have gone to this type of operation and we heard a lot of good feedback from them,” Carley said.
According to Carley, this change was made for a number of reasons. He said students in past years complained about having to hold a second card other than their Owl Card in order to do their laundry.
He continued, saying that workers in the Lloyd P. Young Student Center had complained that students would go in asking for change all the time because only certain bills could be added onto laundry cards.
Students who no longer live on campus said they wished they had this change when they did live on campus, including juniors Andrea Dimauro and Rebecca Innerfield.
Dimauro said, “It used to be really inconvenient and I’m aggravated that it’s now prepaid-for, because now I live off-campus and still need to pay for the machines in my own home.”
The inconvenience was the most annoying part in Dimauro’s mind during her freshman and sophomore years.
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“Sometimes I would want to do laundry in the middle of the night but if there wasn’t enough money already on my laundry card I would have to walk all the way to the student center just to be able to do a load,” Dimauro said.
Some said they are upset about this switch, knowing that they had to pay for laundry themselves when they were underclassmen.
“It’s not fair,” Innerfield said, who is a junior that lives off-campus, “I still have to pay for laundry as an upperclassman in Arcadia. I feel like I got ripped off.”
Innerfield continued, “Obviously when they make a change like this, some people are going to be upset. It’s a huge change that is definitely going to benefit the campus in the long run. I just hate that I missed it by a year.”
Sophomore Aryanah Haydu, however, said she is pleased with the new change.
“I like it a lot better. I came back and was excited to find out the laundry was already paid for by my on-campus housing cost. It’s definitely one less thing I need to worry about as a busy college student,” Haydu said.
Haydu continued, “I would re-wear things all the time because I didn’t want to pay to wash them, but now I have already done laundry three times since I have moved in,” Haydu said, “Last year I probably would have only done it once by now.”
When freshman Jillian Chrisom heard about the laundry situation in the previous years she was glad that she had missed it.
“This definitely seems a lot easier than carrying around a card, it’s much easier to walk into the laundry room with your dirty clothes rather than wondering if you have your card or if there is even enough money on it,” Chrisom said.
Chrisom continued, “I’m glad I don’t have to stress about that.”
According to Carley, these on-campus laundry machines are strictly for on-campus residents of Keene State.
“There are signs in the process of being made that will say ‘These laundry facilities are for on-campus residents only, anyone else who uses it will be sent through the student conduct system,’” Carley said.
Students who still have their laundry cards from previous years with money still on them can get a refund, according to Carley.
In order to get the money back, students need to fill out a form and send the card along with it before November 1, 2014.
Carley explained that forms can be found in the Residential Life building on Butler Court or from your Resident Director of your on-campus housing.
Julie Flynn can be reached at jflynn@keene-equinox.com.
