“Today, with the easy availability of shmutz, dorm counselors are a must.”
Not true. A bochur can get all that “shmutz” whether there is a dorm counselor or not. Sometimes a dorm counselor is a responsible person that does a good job, but more often than not the dorm counselor is immature and babyish, looking for kicks by thinking they can ‘control’ the younger guys. They are worthless in that regard. When I was in mesivta all the dorm counselor did was soak people that were wearing shorts in the hallway. He did nothing to stop bochrim from getting ‘shmutz’.