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Show Tim ards for als. He d illus- tionally he first ge and eloping COMMENT WEBER STATE COLLEGE April 1984 “year of little victories” 1984 named The word “dorms” has developed a connotation over the years. One tends to think of an army barracks image with students living haphazardly without regard for laws or social mores. "The image problems are out of our control,” said Richard Sline, director of campus life at WSC, ‘but as we change what we can, the image will begin to change.” And changes are coming. Students living in the residence halls, and there are about 600 at Weber, have a very different life style than the commuter students on campus. They have no local support system; their families and closest friends are somewhere else, just far enough away to be out of reach. “Although they are a small group on this campus, they are an important one,” said Sline. He sees their needs including not only food and shelter, ‘but social involvement entities and physical activities as well. Sline ss 1 enn : nea in eS tes distasteful believes that living in the residence halls can be a very positive €xto be perience, not merely something endured in the process of getting an education. Sline lived in the residence halls on campus for the first nine months after he came to Utah from Ann Arbor, Mich. His wife and daughter stayed behind to sell the house and finish out the school year. This experience gave him some valuable insights, on a very personal level, into campus live. ‘I came down to the lobby in Promon- tory about 7 o'clock in the evening, my first day here,” he said. "The scenery was beautiful, I could see the whole valley,” he recalled, “but there were no people and no cars, even, in sight. I had an almost overwhelming gut level feeling of loneliness." Sline and his staff have outlined the major problems that they see in the present system, dividing them into two areas: problems they can bring under control, and problems that they cannot control. There are four areas they feel to be out of their direct control: off-campus housing competi- tion, image of student housing, student market. Many students are here for two: year programs interested in involved and don't get student life programs, and non-residential campus attitudes. The campus is geared are for commuter students which ts studen the than r numbe in r greate living on campus. _ Areas for improvement residence in the halls, as outlined by Sline room and building houses the dinin g room, weight floors residence hal | boasting 11 floors. This . Currently the second, third and fourth Promontory Tower (above) is Weber’s largest all four o f the residence halls on Campus in living students to le availab are sauna area which on. Educati ing Continu of ment for the depart of “PT.” are being used as office space and his staff, include eight areas they feel they can effectively deal with: sense of bience; systems food community; physical am- building security; office and marketing; quality of service; programming and recreation facilities; student behavior and vandalism; and residence life staff competency. Sline described their approach to these problems as "circling the wagons and attacking from _ all angles.” “In the past,” said Sline, "these problems have been identified and plans made to correct them. The difference between then and now, why we're going to succeed where they tories.” Progress is coming, slowly exand in small ways now, but they pect it to snowball. "There is no point in buying new furniture for the failed,is that they have worked on the problems one or two at a time. We will work on all angles at once—a the lounges," Sline pointed out, “until out, d worke are ems probl ty securi more stable and longer lasting solu- solve these tion." related." synergistic approach. The solution a won't come overnight, but it will be . The campus life staff has already named this the “year of the little vic- then both of those solutions will contribute to the sense of community. It is almost impossible for us to really because problems they are at a time one all so closely 7 continued on page 2 |