<p>That just seems ridiculous to me. If I don’t want to live on campus, then I am sure as hell not going to. If that means not going to my #1 choice, then so be it (I will try to file a petition should I get accepted). I have numerous reasons why I wouldn’t want to live on-campus. First and foremost is the bathroom/shower situation. Why should I be forced into sitting on a communal toilet (or squatting for the next 4 years of my life), or to shower where everyone else showers . . . just to get an education? That is both unsanitary and inhumane to expect that of someone. Have you ever heard of STDs, plantar warts, or just gross people sharing something that you put your naked body against? It’s disgusting.</p>
<p>Secondly is the fact that you cannot control your roommate. I’m allergic to smoke, dogs, and dust mites. I can’t even go near someone if they’ve been near a dog that day without going into a severe allergic reaction requiring hospitalization, let alone LIVE IN A ROOM with someone who may have a pet at home or at a friend’s house that they visited. What about the dust mites? I can’t live in any space that has a blanket – mine are made out of some plastic material – stuffed animal, or fabric ANYTHING. Heck, I can’t even have CURTAINS in my house! </p>
<p>I have a compromised immune system too, and living in a dormitory where everything from the flu to meningitis runs ramped poses a serious health threat to me.</p>
<p>On a whole, I understand that many students like to live on campus, and colleges like for their students to get the entire “college experience” by contributing to the environment. However, it is pure discrimination to try to force students with moral, social, health, or emotional contradictions to live on campus against their wishes – or deny them admission. I know for a fact that I would be able to contribute to the college atmosphere when I’m commuting the same way that I could contribute if was living in a filthy housing dormitory. In fact, living in the dorm would probably make me so SICK that I would contribute LESS. </p>
<p>If a college I’m accepted to denies my petition, a lawsuit may be in order. Their behavior and requirements – completely unrelated to academic eduction – are simply unacceptable.</p>
<p>nobody requires one to live on campus, there are checks to make if you require on campus housing. How would they know where you are living if you have not applied for housing?</p>
<p>You can be exposed to the same germs in a classroom. There is sometimes carpet in classrooms. People in class, in stores, everywhere can have contact with dogs. I don’t see how that’s any different.</p>
<p>Wow… don’t know why a college would make an exception for you. Your post comes off as whiny and uppity. I’m not saying that to be offensive to you; that’s simply going to be the reaction the college dean would take to your protests too. Do you know why some people have compromised immune systems? Because they lack exposure to common allergens during infancy and childhood, and never build up resistance to those allergens. Unless you were born with an immune system disorder, the cleaner the environment you place yourself in, the weaker your immune system will be.</p>
<p>No, I have not heard of “plantar warts.” Putting every other word in CAPS does not contribute much to [what] you’re presenting here.</p>
<p>Good luck with that lawsuit, buddy. Hahaha…</p>
<p>Usually there aren’t that many people/bathroom, so if you get to know and trust the people in your hall, sharing a bathroom doesn’t seem so bad after a while…especially if everyone is nice and cleans up after themselves, and if your school has janitors who clean the toilets every day. Plus you can wear slippers in the shower if it really bugs you that much.</p>
<p>(But then again, I go to a school where all of us eat off the same plate at dinner…so what do I know.)</p>
<p>Yes, but I also don’t have an STD, I’ve never had a wart, conjunctivitis, strep throat, head lice, or the flu. I suffer from debilitating asthma and allergies. Many a time have I been rushed to the hospital because of contact with dogs or smoke, treated with steroids to calm down the inflammation in my airway.</p>
<p>Walking past someone in a store is different from them dropping and spreading the dander throughout the place you live and sleep. Again, being exposed to carpeting for a short period of time is able to be controlled with inhaled steroids, decongestants, antihistamines, and albuterol/atrovent nebulizer treatments. However, LIVING and SLEEPING in those conditions is different.</p>
<p>EDIT: A lot of you are also criticizing, saying that I’m a “germaphobe.” It is true, and I am proud of it. I’m not a slovenly pig that exposes myself to unnecessary health risks. Accordingly, have you never heard of obsessive compulsive disorder (I have not been officially diagnosed, but I’m sure that I do have it, as well as numerous other people)? Should psychological conditions that cause severe anxiety as the direct result of living on campus be ignored? Should those individuals be made fun of?</p>
<p>How about a person with a fear of heights living in a glass room 5,000 feet in the air? Maybe a person with a fear of snakes should live with a roommate that keeps pet snakes in their room.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that living on campus causes me severe physical – and consequently emotional from worrying about it – harm.</p>
<p>That’s nice. I’ve never had STds, warts, head lice, or conjunctivitis, but I have had the strep throat and the flu (rarely). Practically everybody I know has had the flu a few times. I don’t think your debilitating asthma and allergies means that your contracting the flu would pose a greater threat to you than to a normal person, unless you have other health conditions you have not revealed. There’s nothing wrong with getting a little cold or flu every once in a while.</p>
<p>Really? You don’t think so, doctor? Wow, I’d like to know what college YOU’RE attending so that I can NOT go there! </p>
<p>Perhaps you haven’t been on a ventilator from a common cold… So I wouldn’t criticize others for conditions that are beyond their control. You lack general knowledge, class, respect, and empathy for other individuals.</p>
<p>If it’s really that much trouble, you can probably talk to the Dean or some other higher-up and they’ll probably let you live off-campus…I mean, kids are fighting for those spots, it’s not in their interests to deny you. Or you could try to get into a dorm that doesn’t allow pets or something.</p>
<p>But do keep in mind that it’s harder to make friends off-campus.</p>
<p>(And by the way, STD’s are named that way because they’re sexually transmitted – you won’t get most of them unless you’re having sex or sharing needles.)</p>
<p>Thanks for cutting the words "unless you have other health conditions you have not revealed. " out of my quote before criticizing it. How is taking words out of context going to solve anything? Here it is in full:</p>
<p>fizix2, that was actually a rather nice post, considering what the others have had to offer thus far. However, in regards to:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not according to two of my physicians anyway (including my OB). You’re telling me that you want to sit on a toilet that someone with herpes sat on? Good luck, honey, with that outbreak you’ll be getting in 4-6 months…</p>
<p>Sweetheart, I have no other conditions that I didn’t reveal. Asthma is a serious condition – many die of it every year. My reactive airway can, and has, swollen shut because of a simple runny nose (post nasal drip). You should not be engaging in conversations when you have no knowledge on which to base your (incorrect) opinions.</p>
<p>I respect that you may have illnesses…however, your “the world should treat me differently because I’m sick” mentality is ridiculous. How are you going to deal when you get a job? Will you sue the company you work for if they refuse to take measures for ONE employee when they have thousands of others to worry about?</p>
<p>And by the way, fizix did say MOST OF THEM. It goes without saying that there are some that can be passed through contact…however, you could get herpes just as easily by brushing against someone. Unless you want to live in a plastic bubble for the rest of your life (which, in your case, you might want to consider), you need to learn how to live with germs.</p>
<p>And you do realize that not all germs are bad, and in fact some bacteria are actually necessary for your body to function properly. Not to mention that your posts are riddled with logical fallacies clearly meant to just attack people because they disagree with you.</p>
<p>I know Asthma is a serious condition. I have it. But you “conveniently” leave out the part that far more people live with it than die from it. I’d be happy to look up statistics for you.</p>
<p>Well, wouldn’t it make more sense to treat the disorder, OCD, than to cater to individuals who suffer from it? I don’t think anybody makes fun of OCD. Since you say you’ve never been officially diagnosed with OCD, maybe you should check out possible ways professionals can alleviate your fears and concerns.</p>
<p>Btw, maybe you can bring this cursing, calling everyone on the board an idiot, and ranting to court and see how well this class-action law suit will do?</p>
<p>Am I asked to be treated any differently? Or am I simply asking why I can’t live at my own home? There is a difference. I am not making ridiculous requests – that people in the classroom not wear perfume, that everyone bathe in the morning, that all carpets are ripped out. I’m asking to LIVE IN MY OWN HOME.</p>
<p>^Actually, yes, you are asking to be treated differently. If the college requires people to live on-campus and you refused to, you’re asking to be treated differently. The “ridiculousness” of the request has nothing to do with it.</p>
<p>Cater to the individuals? HA, you are sadly mistaken. A person simply wishing to live at their own home is not being catered to. See my above post ^.</p>
<p>well if you stopped and read your first post, you wouldn’t be wondering why everyone else sounds hostile. and no, you do not obsessive-compulsive disorder, and despite what you might think, there are not thousands or millions of undiagned people with OCD. there is a fine line between an obsessive-compulsive personality and obsessive-compulsive disorder. take a psychology class. you are, perhaps, germaphobic, but that’s not unusual considering your condition(s).</p>
<p>anyway, there’re single rooms. some schools have rooms with private bathrooms or the bathrooms are only shared with a few rooms.</p>
<p>people always make exceptions for those with medical conditions, too…so really, you have no excuse for acting like you are. there’s probably an exception in the housing contract.</p>
<p>in short, lighten up and just send an email or letter to the dean.</p>