Moving out on their own

Greg Burghardt

Students living in the updated Towers were welcomed with open arms today into what some
call a community.

“We made it a point to not emphasize what we have that other halls don’t
have,” said Resident Assistant Steve Ostipow. “We’re trying to build a
community.”

Shaun Holtgreive, associate director of Residence Life, said one of the
things the administration is doing to ensure such a relationship is having
the residents share facilities.

“By having shared facilities it again increases the students’ ability
to mingle with one another and get to know one another on different levels,”
Holtgreive said.

In addition to the pre-existing Towers halls, Kulhavi, Campbell and Kesseler
were added to the mix, and Stanton sophomore Milinda Wilson said she has
seen positive differences in the new wings.

“The rooms are a lot bigger and nicer,” she said. “(The rooms) are
more expensive but worth the price.”

The new Towers offer residents four individual rooms, two bathrooms and
a living area inside one suite for $3,850 per year, while students living
in the older wings pay $2,962 for the year.

“I think the help we received from students as we did the designs for
actual suites has really paid off,” Holtgreive said. “Students who already
moved in have already taken to the spaces as we hoped they would.”

Wilson said the problems experienced in the old Towers were taken into consideration
during the construction of the new Towers.

“More washers and dryers were added and there are better student commons on each
floor,” she said.

Another addition Wilson was happy to see are the new parking lots located to the north
and southwest sides of the building.

“I am happy with the amount of spaces and I’m glad they extended the
parking,” she said.

Holly sophomore Danielle Matthews has worked at the Towers front desk
for two years and said she decided to keep her residence in Carey Hall despite
the changes going on around her.

“We still get the benefit of the new Towers, other than your own rooms,”
she said. “So it’s like the new Towers minus the air conditioning.”

Matthews said even though the construction was an improvement to the building, she
misses the old look.

“It’s a comfort thing, being used to how it was before, it’s so
modern now and I don’t feel it’s as homey,” she said.

Residents were allowed to move in Wednesday, but students could pay a fee for an
earlier move-in day.

“I’ve been surprised but a lot of people came in early,” Wilson said.
“They decided the extra fee is worth it to bypass the extra hassle of move
in day.”

Despite the differences between the new and old halls, Ostipow said he
doesn’t think it will hinder the relationships between the halls.

“I think we get along really well and that is what we are trying to
uphold,”
he said. “We don’t want to separate ourselves from other halls on campus.
We are all one big happy family.”