Some Merrimack College students have been upset these past few months about the housing selection and how it is done. I am one of those people who doesn't agree with the school on accepting many students without thinking of the possible outcome. But people have been saying "Royal Crest isn't good, it's dangerous to cross 114, why isn't the school doing anything about it?" also "Why aren't those residence halls on North Campus still not up? They should be up." Well as a resident of Andover, MA, the town that owns part of Merrimack's land, and as someone who grew up at 178 Elm Street for 15 years, probably about three football fields away form North Campus, then moved but stayed in Andover, I'll tell you why these things are not built.

North Campus:

Back in 2012, Merrimack College had the idea of North Campus housing, and this was a great idea. They can become more competitive and the businesses around loved it because that meant more money. Merrimack being an educational institution could not be denied the right to expand under Mass law. "Under the state law, the towns cannot deny a site plan for agricultural, religious, educationa, or child-care facilities. Rather, local officials can only impose “reasonable conditions” on its approval" (Boston Globe).

They have had the okay for years to expand, but the problem is Andover residence. I would be very frustrated as well if I was told that Merrimack was going to expand rapidly and have construction occurring off and on. What did the Merrimack administration do? They heard the complaints and instead of ignoring them and building, they went to Andover town meetings for months, maybe even up to a full year, just to hear what the residents had to say. The reason why they are not done is because Merrimack made a deal with the town on when they can begin construction and how long they can do it for, according to people of Andover close to Andover Board of Selectman. They in no way wanted the struggle of students getting housing to happen but it did. Blame Merrimack, blame the citizens of Andover, do as you please. I just wanted to make sure you were properly educated on why North Campus is not completed yet, as it is not because the school doesn't care. Along with this Merrimack College has been sending offers to the residence of Brookfield (the street next to North Campus) trying to get extra housing, as residents have told me about offers countless times.

Royal Crest Violence:

Before I go into the crosswalk thing I want to make this clear: If you are saying Royal Crest is bad because there has been robberies there before, you might want to rethink your own campus. "Police records show that since September 2012, there have been 37 arrests made by Andover police at 50 Fox Hill Road, an address the department uses for the college. The arrests, made about two blocks from Reck’s home, include two gun charges and five weapons charges, records show" (Boston Globe). This article I continue to use was written in 2014, so I assume these numbers only go up. I'm in no way saying Royal Crest is perfect but it shouldn't be this much of a concern with these numbers "at Merrimack."

Royal Crest crosswalk:

The roadway that people want a crosswalk on is 114. That is a state highway, so it is not really that easy to get a crosswalk there. But the school has been working with MASSDOT (Massachusetts Department Of Transportation) trying to get this crosswalk in. Again Merrimack will be getting this crosswalk in the next few years which I know because my father, one of the Heads of MASSDOT, will be hiring the crew to make it. But according to one of the Heads of MASSDOT, the reason it is taking so long is because this is a ridiculous amount of money the school has to spend to make sure their students get across safe. The school has to make sure they have money for the crosswalk, the new lights they will have to put in, and the help from the state that they need. Another reason this is taking so long, according to one of the Heads of MASSDOT, is because they are concerned about traffic flow and how this will slow everything down. Can you blame them? Everyone knows how annoying it is to sit in traffic so the state has been working on trying to figure out how they can avoid traffic backups but still get this done.

Selection Process:

I'm saying this just because people are getting frustrated. The way they select who comes first is the best way possible. Your credits should be the only way it is done by. Because as a kid who struggles in the classroom I don't really want them going by GPA. Also if I was an upperclassman I wouldn't want a freshman going above me because they did good in core classes as oppose to my actual difficult classes.

Please all I ask before you start ripping on Residence Life is to put yourself in this situation and think how they feel. I bet that they don't want to be in this situation as it makes their life just as stressful as yours. So please have a heart and think about how stressed they probably are. By the way, this is a student writing this who has zero connection to the Res life department on campus. Just tired of seeing hard working people bashed on for something they can not control.

All information was extracted from the Boston Globe, along with MASSDOT, and the Residents of Andover.