OCR Text |
Show 7 8 Signpost-Tuesday, May 29, 1984 - t i " S- - V , ft - From left: Cunningham, Jacobson, Zebo, Matthew Nickerson, Rollings, Villars, Erwin Stone, Darrington, Thompson (PT Lobby) Close Encounters Living in the resident halls can be a life of mixed emotions and feelings. This reporter decided that the best way to find out the true meaning of "dorm" life was to actually live at the halls. After just one week, I have formed several opinions of the residence halls. Some are positive and some are negative. I was told that the food was terrible and the management was worse. I was told that the hall in which 1 would be living had, "florescent green mold" growing in the showers. I was quietly told that each floor of the halls accommodated divergent lifestyles of the students. First, the food. Carol Brantmeier, the residence life coordinator told me she felt that campus food services is trying. When 1 spoke with students, their feelings are that the food needs more than improvement. I would agree with what Carol Brantmeier said, "It's hard to cook like 400 moms. Sometimes it (the food) is good and sometimes it is not so good." One of the resident directors told me that she spends some three hours, every afternoon, in the "hall." "We try to make ourselves available (to the students)," she said. Frankly, I didn't spend a lot of time at the dorms. Yet, while there I only saw my residence director once. The time I saw her we didn't communicate, we didn't even make eye contact. Management is in the process of redirecting the thinking of the residents, the students and the community about the conditions, atmosphere and aura of the "dorms." Their desire is to start with a name change, hoping that will help change negative attitudes about the dorms. Management prefers to say "residences halls" or simply, "halls," rather than the "dorms." As for my perceptions . . . there was indeed green between the tiles in the showers and the lack of carpet in my room made the gritty floor a bit uncomfortable. When I was told about the "florescent" colored showers I envisaged something quite horrible. I was pleasantly suprised to find my visual picture rather incorrect. Some floors have the label "quiet floors" and then there was my floor. I'm sure the resident's on that floor voted on the hours they kept or rather didn't keep. To say the least I was not on a floor that I would have stayed on, if I had any choice. The people were friendly but they must not have had 8 a.m. classes. They were up every night until midnight and so were their stereos and at least one television. One night I heard four stereos all playing different music not to mention the T.V.. I have been asked if I would consider living on campus in the residence halls? When I weigh all my options, I, positively consider the convience of being within walking distance to the campus. I also consider the convience of having all my meals prepared for me, but I'm told not to consider this for long. The social interactions with residents and the social activities that the halls offer represent a "plus" for living on campus. Lack of privacy, quiet, cleanliness and space represent reasons for me not wanting to live on campus. As I see it, these are my alternatives. Only after careful consideration would I make a decision whether or not to live on campus. Life at the Res by: DUi l Whenever individuals view the same scene, even from an identical vantage point, the description will always be different. The following is a look at Weber State College's campus housing. The "main" individuals include an administrator, first and second level managers, supervisors and residents. Campus housing's administrator, Richard Sline, maintains that for him to evaluate housing as either positive or negative would result in a gross injustice by way of an unfair, biased stereotyping of the entire system. Yet, despite his reservations he has chosen to say, "Generally, students feel it's (campus housing) a positive experience. It could be more positive if we could do our job better," Sline said. From an administrative point of view, housing in terms of plusses and minuses, for students, can be summed up through the psychology of Maslow. Maslow said that before higher needs can be fulfilled, safety and security needs must be met. This concept coincides well with the graphically illustrated goal chart which Sline keeps close at hand. Other succinctly organized administrative goals include: sense of community, physical ambiance, office systems and marketing, quality of good service, programming and recreational facilities and residence life staff competency. These are within the control or influence of the housing administration. Areas which are outside administrative control include: image of student housing, student market, non-residential campus attitudes and off-campus housing competition. Sline understands the responsibilities of the residence assistants (RA's) to include "counseling with a very small 'c'." This means having the training necessary "to recognize when someone needs help of a professional nature." These are basic skills, such as support and listening. RA's are to feel the "pulse" of the students. Carol Brantmeier, residence life coordinator, is the first level campus housing manager. She sees building security as an area of concern and said that this will be one of the areas to be remedied with the $500,000 which has been allocated for housing. Brantmeier said objectively, "I'd have to be crazy to say that drugs aren't present. (Yet) I think people are more cautious here about their behavior as compared to previous institutions where I've worked." The Housing Office recently sponsored two alcohol awareness days to "promote awareness . . . not drinking . . . Just because we admit that it's here doesn't mean that the place is infested with drugs and alcohol. When we see alcohol, we deal with it." Brantmeier said, "Students that are here are here by choice. With choices come tradeoffs . . . part of our role is to help them (students) sort out their values clarification." Brantmeier continued, "We don't like to use the term 'dorm.' A dorm is the long building where you eat and sleep." Their goal is to have campus housing represent a livinglearning center, to be called the "residence halls." The second level manager has direct contact with the the RA's, who are the link to the residents. "The whole concept behind residence halls is student development . . . learning how to live in a community." At this level, management feels that a main student concern is "good programming", which includes having recreational equipment. |