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

Staying for Spring Break? The price you have to pay.

          Although living in the residential housing on campus has its perks, many students and R.A.'s are beginning to think the price is too high.


          In order to be able to have access to your dorm room during Spring Break, residents had to sign up in advance and pay $45 for the "early bird" special and $90 later on. This is in addition to the already steep price of over $10,000 per year to live in the residential halls. This fee doesn't just apply to Spring Break, but to Winter Break and Thanksgiving Break as well. Students have to pay $400 to stay in their rooms during Winter Break. 


          "I feel like with the longer breaks it's understandable because its you know its a month or so," said R.A. Aaron Apanasewitcz. "But with spring break I think it is kinda stupid cause im pretty sure they do not pay less for this month than any other when they pay their normal monthly dues. And if this is the case then technically they have already payed for spring break so I think they should be able to stay over the break for free if they want." 


          The CSULB housing uses that money to pay for maintenance staff to work, but the R.A.s don't get paid and the dining halls aren't open, leaving a lot of money in question. Many students are finding the cost too high and are staying home for the breaks. 


-Lauren Weiss

The Parkside Residential Halls

Flood Warnings on Channel 3

Student videos, housing infomercials and now safety warnings? Housing's private circuit television station, "channel three" now broadcasts flash flood safety warnings like local stations. However, students debate on how effective the safety warnings are and what can be done to improve safety awareness in the dorms.

Residential officials are not doing the best job in letting their residents know what's going on, be it something menial like building events or something as serious as flooding. Students feel that the flash flood warnings on channel three would have been a lot more effective if someone in charge would have sent out a mass message or let them know personally.

"I don't even think I get that channel on my television, I had to hear it from my mom and look it up myself," says Stephanie Scardenzan, a resident of Parkside. "If they sent out a text message, since everyone has a phone, it would have been more effective than just putting it on channel three."

Approaching each and every person is a huge task for one RA and it is almost impossible to reach everybody, but a brief building meeting or a note on the doors would be more effective because people would have to look at it passing through.

"I saw it on channel three but I mean, if we're about to die, I would want someone to tell me," says T.J Robinson, third year resident of Parkside.

The flash flood warnings go on during the movie showing on channel three and last for about a minute or two and then continue with their regularly scheduled program.

-Leslie Campos

R.A. Applications

          Ever wanted to become a Residence Assistant? Now is the time to apply!

          The CSULB Housing and Residential Services are taking R.A. applications up until Friday, March 25th at 5 p.m. All applicants must have lived in the residential halls for at least one year, must have at least a 2.5 GPA to apply, and must provide a personal statement detailing why he or she is qualified to be an R.A.

          The R.A. application process, however, can be a grueling one. Students interested in the position must attend one group interview to be considered for a personal interview. If selected, they have an individual interview with the residence coordinators and then wait several weeks to find out if they are offered a position.

          A few weeks of mandatory training occurs in the summer to prep the new R.A.'s for their position and to get to know their fellow R.A.'s as well.

          Is all this work really worth it? R.A.'s get free room and board, a single room to themselves, and money on their beachclub accounts to use on campus.

          Interested in applying? The application can be found at: www.housing.csulb.edu

-Lauren Weiss

Residents are Uninterested with Dorm Events

In previous semesters, sign ups have gone through the roof for events hosted by RAs such as the Mac Make-Up tutorials and the InCahoots Line-Dance Parties. Community service projects such as the Beach Clean-Ups and awareness events also drew a lot of attention.

However this semester has seen a dramatic decline in participation of such events.Every event sees less and less sign ups from the residents."There are a few reasons why i don't participate," says Nicole Williams, a resident of Parkside H Building. "I either have no money, I'm busy and forget to go or they just aren't interesting."

Some events don't offer transportation to students, instead they offer gas cards for carpooling, but sometimes their friends don't want to attend. "I also wont go if i cant find someone to go with me," says Williams.

Other times events are not promoted as effectively as before, when people were invited on Facebook, reminded through Twitter and called to confirm that they were coming. Events that are highly promoted have more participation.

To improve attendance Resident Assistants could look into making the events more interesting to their residents and also publicize more and possibly provide transportation for a more of the off-campus events.

For more information on building events contact your RA or visit the poster row at your community's Dining Hall.

-Leslie Campos