ASU's newspaper came out with an expose on Residential Life at ASU. It seems that the department treats its employees so badly that the turnover rate mid-year is 26% and (according to some people I talked to here) nearly all of the RAs will be leaving at the end of the year. What's more, none of the RAs would talk to the newspaper because they would be fired. One girl who talked anonymously last year was asked to leave when they discovered who she was.
I'm pretty tired of the way Res Life treats us in general. They decided for our own good that we have to be quiet after 9 PM in the dorms, for example. This means we cannot even have a quiet conversation in the hallway. I was thinking that I'd live in the dorms for most of my time in college. After spending nearly a year with fewer freedoms than I had at home, I'm seriously re-thinking that. The upper echelons of Residential Life are so out of touch it's not even funny. It's pretty obvious that they have no idea what the students want and really don't care. Even more troubling, when they make a decision that is clearly about saving them money, they have the gall to say it is in our best interest!
Anyhow, even if you don't care to hear me whine about life in the dorms, I hope you'll read the article. I have it on good authority that it's quite accurate. Any ideas you have on how to change this situation or even make life better for RAs and students who live on campus would be appreciated.
Posted by slacker (Member # 2559) on :
I thought you were gonna talk about our state government or something.
Do you have the ability to move out of the dorms there and rent a house/apt with some friends or something? It seems that if you're really unhappy about living there (when @ HTI in central phx, we were given the same 9pm quiet rule too), you should see about moving elsewhere.
If you've got a car, ludosti and I might be looking for a roomie (so we can buy a larger house )
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
While I'd love to live with other Jatraqueros, I do not have a car and I'm afraid to drive around here. Parking's also a bit hard. I'm going to wait until I go completely bonkers (probably by the end of next year) before giving up on the on-campus housing. Most likely, as soon as my friends leave the dorms, I will too.
Posted by slacker (Member # 2559) on :
It's not that bad to drive here. Well, unless you don't like to take your life into your own (and others) hands whenever you go anywhere near a paved road. In that case, you should do what other people here do: buy a big SUV and play bumper car!
Edit: I'm from the WA area, and traffic isn't so bad. At least it's better than Portland traffic (and most of Oregon's drivers!) *runs from the OR hatrackers*
[ March 25, 2004, 08:44 AM: Message edited by: slacker ]
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
I lived at ASU for an entire summer about 8 years ago now for a research internship. Was put up in the university apartments over on the east side of campus. Their air conditioning and ventilation system was horrid. I don't know anything about the normal RAs though. In the apartments nobody ever checked on us.
I never ever thought the AZ traffic was bad especially compared to the CA traffic I came from.
I still think the campus is beautiful. Though one of my favorite pastimes was trying to stay indoors on the way to the library. I'd walk from the tallest life sciences building across the top walkway and then down to the third building that has the rattlesnakes, so that I could stay in the airconditioning on the way to the library.
AJ
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I thought that having overly restrictive rules were always part of the dorm experience. That's how they get you to leave after the first year to make room for next year's freshmen.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
AJ, I also think the campus is gorgeous. I fell in love with it when I visited last year. All those trees and flowers are so pretty. It's amazing how much green stuff they have growing in the desert here.
I'm probably scared of the traffic here because I've only driven in my hometown or on the rural highways around Oregon. I make my parents drive whenever I'm in Portland because that also makes me nervous. The drivers around here are far more aggressive than I'm used to, so they frighten me. Your mileage (heh!) may vary.
Perhaps restrictive rules are part of the experience, but I doubt that RAs are universally mistreated. In my post, I was trying to give some of my personal experiences. The article is about how Res Life treats its employees. Anyhow, most of the housing is freshman housing, so it's not as though Res Life really needs to get rid of us. Additionally, the dean of the honors college (where older students can stay in the dorms) wants us to stay to interact with the younger students, give them advice, etc. I know for a fact that he would rather that Res Life not drive us off campus.
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
Everyone should live in a dorm for one semester, to have the experience. Anyone who lives in a dorm for more than one semester is risking whatever sanity they have left.
Having lived in a dorm situation a couple of times, I really think that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages in the long run. Roommates can be a pain. The very short time I was at BYU and lived in an on-campus apartment, I had two roommates who thought my only function in life was to clean up after them, and when I refused, they reported me to the dorm mother (or whatever they were called) who called me in for a talk about "trying to get along." Apparently, trying to get along, in her world, basically meant doing everything my roomates told me to do.
Neighbors in dorms can be a pain, too. I lived in a dorm at a school in California for a semester, and fully a quarter of the women on my floor were complete head cases. Fortunately that time my roommate and I got along just fine.
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