The News Letter | Many Cower in the Face of Dormzilla

With Windowless Rooms Not Much Bigger Than Prison Cells, Mental-Health Concerns Arise

BETTER LUCKY THAN GOOD? When I came up with the silly Dormzilla nickname for the Munger mega-dorm, I didn't realize its proposed height — 160 feet — very nearly matched the size of the reptilian monster from the original 1954 film. Godzilla has since grown over the years. In his latest starring roles, he stands nearly 400 feet tall.

Mon Aug 02, 2021 | 03:52pm

The people have spoken, and they’re predictably freaked out by the Munger Residence Hall proposal, an 11-story monolith of a dormitory slated for the northwest end of UCSB.

At an open hearing last week, concerns were raised about the size of the mostly windowless bedrooms. With dimensions of 7 by 10 feet, more than one speaker pointed out, they’re not much bigger than the average U.S. prison cell, which measures 6 by 8 feet. 

What kind of effect would that have on the occupants’ mental health? they asked. And with so many rooms stacked so closely together ― the single building is expected to house a mid-size town of 4,500 undergraduates ― what about noise?

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