Ariene Willkom pays $2.00 to wash and dry one load of laundry in the resident machines.
Clean clothes more costly on campus By Angela Kuharski Staff writer
Sarah Arnquist/ The Aquin |
Since the beginning of the school year, the cost for using the laundry facilities on campus has increased to $1 for the washer and $1 to use the dryer, 50 cents more for a load of laundry than last year. Some students are angry about the increase. Others say the price is “reasonable,” said Bruce Van den Berghe, associate vice president of auxiliary services. Senior Steve Johnson said he couldn’t believe how much it costs to do laundry on campus this year compared with when he was a freshman. “It’s outrageous to charge someone a dollar just to blow a little hot air on their clothes,” he said. Many students have found other ways of doing laundry to escape the increased cost on |
campus.
“I do my laundry every two to three weeks now, instead of every week,” Johnson said, adding that his two roommates bring their laundry home now.
The cost increased because “energy costs have gone up, and the machines are six years old, so the cost to repair them is greater,” Van den Berghe said.
The price of the laundry facilities hadn’t gone up for a couple of years, Van den Berghe said. The original price six years ago was 75 cents to wash and 50 cents to use the dryer. In 1999 the price of the dryer increased to 75 cents to match the price of the washer. Van den Berghe said the university has no plans for buying new equipment in the near future.
While some students take their laundry to the nearest coin laundries, others carry loads across campus to the Grand Avenue apartments. There, the prices are 75 cents to wash and 25 cents to dry, $1 less than all other on-campus housing facilities.
“It’s so much cheaper here,” said sophomore Liz Gebhard, a resident in the 2171 Grand Avenue apartments.
“All my friends want to come over here and do their laundry.”
On-campus students can save a quarter on each load of laundry at Suds America Laundromat on Marshall and Cleveland Avenues. The Laundromat charges $1.25 to wash but only 50 cents to dry.
Since the laundry prices increased this year, Johnson said he has seen less use of the laundry facilities in Morrison apartments.
Van den Berghe disagreed, saying, “Revenue has not decreased at all so far.”
“This is my 4th year living on campus and I haven’t minded paying up to 75 cents per load, but a dollar is just too much,” senior Melissa Stangl said. “I hate to think how much it will be in another two years.”
Future students living on campus can expect prices to hold for a couple of years because the cost of machines goes up by a quarter, not by nickels and dimes, Van den Berghe said.
“I think St. Thomas needs to look at other possibilities to make life easier for college students, not harder,” sophomore Ann Glover said. “Students at Gustavus College in St. Peter pay a set price at the beginning of the year, which is added in their costs for living on campus. This way students can use the laundry facilities whenever they feel like it and don’t have to worry about change or having money on their Express card.”
Angela Kuharski can be reached at amkuharski@stthomas.edu