EDITORIAL: Extras not included

The new early move-in fee isThe new early move-in fee isridiculous and unnecessary.The new early move-in fee isridiculous and unnecessary.____________________________ The answer: early move-in. This perk used to be free for student members of clubs and groups with rehearsals or training to accomplish. In exchange for the services and help they contributed to the University community, these involved students received free room for a few days. Fair trade, right? Apparently, Residential Living no longer thinks so. Last week, the department announced that effective this fall, it will charge each student returning early to participate in activities of a club, sport or other group $30 per day to enter the dorms early. Residential Living admits that it doesn't expect individual students involved in University-sponsored programs to cough up the extra dough. Rather, groups will absorb this additional cost, depriving members of programming opportunities later in the year and costing all of us next year, when the early move-in fee is appended to many groups' Student Activities Council budget requests -- and taken out of our General Fee. Residential Living claims it has instituted the fee to discourage students from moving into campus housing early, since the dorms' low summer occupancy offers time for maintenance, repair and upkeep projects. These activities should still be possible, even with one less week available for their completion -- or maybe it's time for Residential Living and Residential Maintenance to take a long, hard look at how the pace and planning of their services could be upgraded.