The phrase “students living in the basement at local college” brings to mind sweatshop-type dorm rooms, or even worse, images of Wes Craven’s horror flick, The People Under the Stairs. When I finally made my way down to the Milner basement area where several students now live, I found that the conditions were not quite what I had expected. Instead of potholed dirty cement floors, there was a nice blue carpet that looked fairly new. Instead of the deafening tones of the spin cycle from the laundry room next door, there was only quiet talking and music heard in the hall. In fact, I could actually see where I was going instead of been enveloped by the darkness of any other basement.

Formerly the home of Residence Life, the basement of Milner Hall currently houses 13 girls, including the RA Desiree Wilkinson. She was originally an alternate for the RA program, but now seems to like her post in the cozy basement setting. “I enjoy it down here; it’s very quiet,” she says of her floor. The rooms have all the amenities of a room in any other hall, except for cable hook-ups, which will be installed within the week.

Daisy Partington from Boston and Nisreen Daoud from Palestine are actually happy about living in a triple. Daisy says, very emphatically for someone with laryngitis, “I’m so glad I am down here,” while her roommate Nisreen comments, “It doesn’t seem crowded for a triple.” The room is quite spacious, even with several pieces of large furniture. There are two bunk beds with desks and bureaus attached, as well as one standard bed and bureau. The room also includes a closet and a cabinet tucked into a corner area.

When asked if they would still have come to Guilford knowing they would be placed in a basement, both girls agreed that it would not have affected their decision. The cost for the room is the regular price charged for any other place in Milner hall, but Daisy says she would even pay more for her quiet surroundings.

As to the wild rumors circulating campus about students living in various nooks and crannies, I have yet to find these poor people. The only true horror stories I have heard about strange living circumstances have come from students living in normal dorm rooms with abnormal people.