Dorm life has been a quintessential trademark of the college life for a long time. The dorms encourage students to make friends, to be more independent, and to be more productive by living together under one roof. The principle purpose of dorms is to create a sense of having a second house with a feeling of closeness. The location of the Baruch dorms becomes a huge barrier to this ideal. The college is located on 23rd street and Lexington, while the dorms are all the way on 97th street and 3rd, 70 blocks away, which equates to a half hour commute if the students are lucky.  Often students aren’t so fortunate, and the 6 train is either delayed or has planned work twenty-three percent of the time.  There is also the issue that students have to pay around $800 dollars a year for subway costs, while already paying around $12,000 for room and board.

A logical solution to this distance dilemma is to emulate the City College of New York and implement a shuttle bus service. While a shuttle bus service won’t physically make the dorms and college closer, it will create a feeling of closeness. Maybe one day the CUNY system will do a major reorganization of their dorm system and switch the Baruch dorms with the Hunter dorms that are located near Baruch, thus making each place of residence closer to its respective college. However, right now what a shuttle bus service will allow the students to do, is to travel to and from school in an easy fashion.

Of course, simply stating that shuttle buses should be implemented fails to take into account the actual method of doing so. The financial burden it would take must be taken into consideration. The shuttle bus service, would run three times in the morning and three times in the evening. We propose that each student who dorms could pay approximately $500 more a year to cover for most of the cost, including the cost of the buses, bus driver salaries, and cost of gas. Dormers already have to pay around $800 a year for subway fare, so paying the $500 would actually save them money, along with creating a genuine dorming experience.

(TRANSITION NEEDED) Living in New York City has its advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately, the students of Baruch will never truly have the full dorming experience due to the city’s limits. The Baruch administration can bring the students of the dorms closer to that experience by making the college campus feel like home. Facilitating the feeling of closeness is possible with the shuttle bus service, and if the administration is willing to work with students, Baruch will be able to provide its dorming population the full college experience.