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! , fl, ," ( rf, " FEATURES Thursday, September 30, 1999 - Page 9 WMC's Pennsylvania Avenue houses are a source of happiness, as well as frustration, for current residents fly MALISSA MORAN For the amount of time and ef- Fealure5Wriler fort that residents have to put into so that "they can see exactly where Imagine living in a house being able to live in their houses, it the problems are." where there was no hot water in does not seem like there is much Bearr agrees that there needs to the kitchen, there was a huge crack being put back into the residences be more focused attention paid to in your bedroom ceiling, or there by the college. the houses or "they should be de- was paint chipping off of every The PA houses are usually oc- molished completely." wall. cupied year-round, except for a few Even though the school is work- These are just some of the con- days during the summer when sum- ing on improving the conditions of ditions that students living in the mer camp residents are moving out the houses and are frying to work 12 college-owned houses on Penn- and college residents are moving in with residents, there are still a lot sylvania Avenue have to live with for the year. of little problems that need to be everyday. Joe Bentz, Director of Building corrected. All of these little prob- Surprisingly, most students do Operations and Maintenance, sees lems lead to frustrations from stu- not mind the conditions they have this as one of the biggest problems dents and parents. to endure simply because of the" in trying to renovate or simply re- It wouldn't be so bad if there appeal of living off-campus. pair any damages before new resi- weren't so many little problems," However, the appeal is not so dents move into the houses. says Williams. "The house isn't in great that students do not find the So many people are here over the horrible condition but, for example, maintenance problems to be an- summer that there is no time to do the carpet is old and the house noying and wish that more atten- things," agrees Wilson. "There needs [to be] repainted more than tion was given to the condition of needs to be a month or so to be able just in the kitchen." their homes. to go in there and get things repaired This year, there have been two Living in squalor isn't much and done." parents that have wnuen letters to compensation for the conditions Wilson also said that the admin- the school about the condition of the houses. [that we live in]," says Jon Bearr, istration is looking at how to sched- a junior living in PA 195. "But ule things better so the physical "The items in the letters were there are benefits to living in the plant and the housekeeping services addressed and repaired," assures house, like greater control over the can get in the houses and get them Wilson. "All issues will eventually atmosphere and being more free ready for the students when they get addressed, but it may not be im- to do what you want." return in the fall. mediate." Shonda Wilson, Residence So that the PA houses do get Another feature that residents of the The state of the front steps of these PA row houses are indicative Life Coordinator, feels that be- more attention, maintenance is try- need for increased maintenance and repairs 10 the PA houses in general. are not happy with is the size of the cause there is a competitive nature ing something new this year. houses. Depending on the house, to obtaining the PA houses, stu- George Glacken has been named the school is trying to work with thaI have been fixed. For example, each residence has anywhere from dents "arc happy with what Ihey the general maintenance person for us to correct things." the exteriors of-PA 185 and 187 4-10 students living there. get." al I PA houses. Sara Hoover, a SOPhomore liv- All students interviewed agreed To live in these houses, stu- "We wanted to assign definitcar- ing in PA 187, also says that she have been repainted and Ihe up- that (he houses were too small for dents must apply through Affinity eas of housing to personnel," says and her housemates have filed sev- stairs bathroom of 187 was com- the amount of people living in pletely renovated. Housing, which requires that stu- Bentz. "He [Glacken] does repairs era! work orders for things like the them. Even with this added incon- that since there Wilson believes dents in each house have their own such as simple plumbing, repairing electricity not working properly, have been a lot of renovations on venience, they still prefer living in objectives and plan their own pro- screens, windows, and blinds and the tub leaking, and the lack of hot campus recently, the PA houses a PA house compared 10 a dorm. grams. replacing fluorescent light bulbs." water in the kitchen have not been getting the attention Students, however, should not Each house is required to have Students have filed work orders JennyWeddle, a senior living in that they deserve. ~ have to sacrifice their standards and five programs a semester, two of for problems such as faulty electric- PA house 189 and the resident as- It seems that all residence halls live in conditions that they would not otherwise. which need to include the college ity, leaky plumbing, worn out sistant for PA 185-199, is "usually have been redone except for the PA There are steps being taken to community. kitchen furniture, and new paint for pleased with the way maintenance houses," says Wilson. "But there is correct the problems in mainte- Most houses plan community the exteriors and interiors. handles things although they some- talk that the PA houses and possi- service based programs, which in- "We put in a work order for new times fall behind and don't have the bly Rouzer are next in line to get nance, but most students feel that is being done. not enough clude deaf education, trick-or- kitchen furniture a few weeks ago, right materials." some focused attention." treating in the residence halls for and it has not been replaced yet," Although many problems do Wilson also says that "they want "We realize that the students do Westminster children, and volun- says Nathan Williams, ajunior liv- not get fixed permanently, like the the living conditions to be im- come first," says Bentz. "But we teering at a homeless shelter and ing in PA 199. "However, our plumbing problems in the row proved" so they are trying to do are trying to do our best and that's all we can do." at a soup kitchen. kitchen was repainted recently, so houses, there are a lot of problems monthly inspections of the houses oHthe mark by Mark Parisi Lifetimes. com 's college chaos contest turns students' creative storytelling into a break from back-to-school stress (CPWIRE) Washington, D.C. also suggests music and food to Adding voice instead of just September 14, 1999 - In com- help cope and ease your mind. written words makes asking mom memoration of the back to campus Second prize is a $300 gift cer- and dad for money and food more season, LifeTIMES.com, an Inter- tificate from Ticketmaster for six pronounced. net community that's helping regular admission tickets to the On campus, RAs can use people share the experiences of life, concerns) of your choice. Circles to create online message is asking students to swap college Third prize, 15 vouchers good centers for their floor for posting horror stories, from endless regis- for Domino's pizzas, won't help announcements, meetings and spe- tration lines to all-night cramming you escape from school, but will at cial events. Students may even sessions, for the chance to win a least be an escape from the cafete- want to consider creating an online $500'lliriine voucher. ria throughout the semester. support group to make it through In 100 words or less, students Twenty entrants will receive the chaos that college brings into can vent their worst college frus- LifeTIMES.com Consolation Care their lives. tration and tell the LifeTIMES.com Packages filled with goodies that "Everyone has a crazy story to community why they need some your parents might send you. tell about college, from the psycho relief. The winning entry, judged College students are encour- roommate, the unforgiving profes- on style, substance and amusement, aged to create online communities, sor or the never-ending battles with will receive $500 to get away from called Circles, to keep in touch with the financial aid office," said Josh it all by flying back home, going family and old high school friends. Johns, marketing director at to spring break or planning a Also, instead of writing the tra- LifeTIMES.com. "This is a fun weekend excursion. ditional letter to loved ones, stu- way for students to vent their frus- If you can't flyaway from the dents can create online SuperCards trations, get a good laugh, and per- College Chaos, LifeTIMES.com with free VoiceCard technology. haps win SO!lJ~ cool prizes."