Summer Jobs at the Dorms!

If you are in search of a summer job, chances are you werent looking to the housing office for employment, but thats where the jackpot is! The CSULB Housing Office has opened multiple positions for summer job seekers.

The position that is the most sought after is that of the hall office Student Assistant better know as the summer SA. This position entails the dutys of a regular semester SA, including tending to summer residents, mail and other office duties. Being an SA over the summer also requires that you stay on campus for the duration of your position. The housing office's Student Assistant applications also favor those with relevant experience and open availability.

"Yea the flyers are all over the place," said Anne Contreras a resident of parkside building L. "I wouldnt mind being here over the summer, work is work."

The dorms go through a summer cleaning shortly after regular semster residents vacate. Maintenance offers a summer positions for students looking to make some summer cash. This job entails helping residence maintenance with the up keep of the vacated dorms. Signs and flyers are posited around campus and the position is open to all students.

For more on jobs and summer openning visit the housing office located on Earl Warren Dr. accross from the parkside community.

-Leslie Campos

Evaluating the RA Position

          As the semester comes to a close, I spoke with some of the CSULB RAs about their overall experience in the RA position.

          "It was an absolutely amazing experience," said Los Alamitos RA Nicolas Diaz. "I got to meet so many people, take on leadership responsibilities, and I had a lot of fun doing it."

          If chosen to be an RA, you are given your own room, free room and board, a laundry card for the laundry rooms, and $100 on your BeachClub card to use anywhere on upper campus. However, with the nice perks comes a lot of responsibility.

          "You have to be the bad guy sometimes," said Residence RA Nicholas Cvjetkovic. "You have to be willing to be the adult in difficult situations and write up students that break the rules and lay down what's appropriate and what isn't."

          The RA position has a lot to offer. It provides students with leadership skills, event planning opportunities, and a chance to get a different experience of living on campus. They meet new people and have the convenience of having free housing on campus. But they do work hard, they have many huge responsibilities, and they give up much of their free time to do this.

          "It may be a lot of work, but in the end, it's absolutely worth it," said Cvjetkovic.

-Lauren Weiss

The Hikes and The Housing

Living on campus can cost residents a pretty penny but are tuition hikes turning down living in the dorms? For students like Rochelle Ferguson, freshman from Parkside Commons, dorming has burned a whole in her wallet and placed an added stress factor to her family.

Ferguson depends on loans for tuition and being a resident comes from parental contribution. She is now an applicant for the Residents Assistant position, which offers perks such as great job experience, networking and  free residence.

"I don't get any financial aid and my mom is a single parent," Ferguson said while she waited for her next class to start. "My sister and i definitely see a difference, we just don't have as much as we use to."

She says that the free housing was the initial attraction to the RA position, but the other duties were also something she could see herself doing.

Tuition hikes at CSULB pose an impending threat to students who depend on financial aid. Funds seem to be decreasing as tuition hikes, leaving students with less and less financial stability. The CSU system's tuition, still less than a UC but also a strain with the constant raises.

"UCs were completely out of the question for me," Ferguson said. " the way it keeps hiking, , who knows if ill be able to afford a CSU, by the time I'm a senior."

The hikes are keeping students running to the housing office to turn in RA applications of going back home. Other students find roommates and an apartment off campus that surprisingly is still more affordable than living on campus.

In anticipation of the constant raises, students glued to their email inbox waiting for the next hike. For some dorming is just out of the question.

-Leslie Campos

RA work doesn't stop, even during the holidays.

          Residence Assistants, unfortunately, have to rotate around the holidays to stay and work, despite the lack of students staying over the holiday weekend.

         "I'm on call from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. [on Easter Sunday]," said Los Alamitos RA Laura Jenkins. "And then I work again from 7 p.m. until midnight on night rounds."

          Many of the RA's reported a huge drop in the number of students staying in the dorms over the weekend because of the holiday. But because of the incoming mail and the potential lockouts that need to be tended to, RA's and student assistants (or SA's) had to continue working through the holiday weekend.

          How does this effect the RAs? They can't make it home as often to celebrate holidays with their family members, holidays that are often very near and dear to their hearts and have deep religious meanings.

          "It's definitely hard being away from home so much," said Jenkins, "but I know that it's just another part of my job."

-Lauren Weiss

Freshmen Required to Dorm

Fall 2010 was the first semester freshmen were required to live in the residential communities at CSULB.To many residents' suprise this was more than just a social experiment. First year students will be forced to dorm yet again next year.

"I thought they were only trying it for the 2010-11 school year, like just to see if the process agreed with the residents" said Ruby Amaya, resident of Los Alamitos. "I think alot of people thought it was only a one time thing."

Freshmen are required to live in the dorms unless they are older than 21 or living with their parents in a neighboring area. The exemption policy also allows students in the military, who are married or have children and with disablities to appeal to not live in the dorms. However, if the dorms are just not available to a student due to finances, the housing office does not put that in their exemption criteria.

"I think they should give us money since they want us to live in the dorms," said Shelly Janise. "Its just too expensive and i could have just stayed at CSU San Bernardino."

According to the Department of Housing and Residential life, reaserch shows that students who live in the dorms during their freshman year have an advantage over other students. The advantages include having a greater college experience, building long lasting relationships and greater educational aspiriations. The department of housing says that the policy is for the betterment of the students.

"The dorms were so empty last year, empty rooms, less people." Said Nicole Williams, a second year resident. "but they just wanted to fill up the dorms because they want the revenue, nothing to do with my growth."

Studies also show that students who lived on campus their freshman year have a higher retention and graduation rates than others. This shows requiring freshman to dorm is in the best interest of the student but residents remain skeptical.

-Leslie Campos

Will Tuition Hikes Create More Problems?

    On Wednesday, CSULB, as well as many other CSU campuses, hosted a protest called Take "Class Action" in order to raise awareness about even bigger budget cuts to the CSU system and to rally support in hopes of decreasing the potential budget cuts.

          So what does this mean for CSULB housing? More crowding in the dorms, higher prices to live on campus, the continuation of mandatory on-campus housing for incoming freshman, and less money for the RA's to use to host events.

          "These budget cuts are really affecting every aspect of CSULB, including housing," said R.A. Tait Kilgore. "It takes effect all over campus."

          To live in the dorms costs over $10,000 per year as it is. With further budget cuts, RA's will have to deal with crowding in the dorms due to mandatory on-campus housing for freshman and further cuts from their budgets to host events.

          "I'm even worried that we may get less stipends for being RA's," said Kilgore.

          Until the budget gets sorted out for next school year, RA's as well as everyone else are on edge about how the budget cuts will effect them.

-Lauren Weiss

Dining Hall Nutrition : Whats on Your Plate?

Whether you live in Parkside, Residence or RLC, you  have experienced the kind of mystery foods these halls dish up.

The Dining Halls serve food in a buffet style format and leave their canned cold foods on ice. The foods also lack lids and proper storage of bread, tortillas and salad dressings and utensils are left in their condiments for all residents to use. Not to mention how hard it is to keep track of your diet if you're a regular in the dining hall without knowing what goes into your food.

A group of fourteen Nutrition132 students wondered how healthy these conditions and the actual food is. Lead by Dr. Diane Carson and student Jessie Seaman, the coalition organized a meeting with the Associate Director of Dining Services, Jenny Lew, to get to the bottom of what we're eating.

The students met up with Lew and raised a few concerns including having students be more involved in the process of choosing what goes on the menu. Groups like the "Diners Club" and surveying students in the dining hall make it seem like there is some student input, however few of the things that are discussed through these mediums are used. Instead, Lew plans the menus based on what was popular each summer.

"Dining Hall Management is primarily focused on fulfilling students dietary needs," said Seaman. "Its just a matter of students having the motivation and the opportunity to be heard."

The group also asked to know what a few of the dishes the dining hall serves are made of, Lew gave a generous description of the selected foods, including a list of ingredients, preparation methods and who provides the ingredients. These can be provided on demand in your dining hall.

She took the students on a tour of the Parkside kitchen and gave samples of Chipotle Black Bean Pattys for vegans. The students asked to have these ingredients and methods made available to everyone who visits the dining hall.

Lew said that due to "budgetary restrictions and  standardized recipes taken from the web," trying to accommodate the 2500 people who eat in the dining hall is no easy task. The many demographics require options that please everyone.

"This campus and the people on it should be more aware of healthy food choices and options." said Dr. Diane Carson. "The food service should make a point to offer healthy options for those of us who care."

Slight changes such as vegan peanut butter and more vegan friendly foods have been noticed in the Dining Halls, progressing toward a healthier eatery for all.

-Leslie Campos