Erika Jarvis, Features Editor
Dorm life turning chic
ST. PAUL, Minn. _ When University of Minnesota student Jade Pirlott
was looking for a place to live last year, she yearned for a convenient loca
tion, a nice kitchen, a spacious bedroom, air conditioning and heated under
ground parking. And, after a freshman year spent sharing facilities with doz
ens of dorm residents, she definitely wanted her own bathroom.
Without having to move off campus, she found what she wanted: Riverbend
Commons, a new style of residence hall that serves as an example of what
many of today's college students _ especially upperclassmen _ want and will
pay extra to get.
"I think everyone who comes to college should have the classic dorm
experience," where small, shared rooms lead to the forced togetherness that
helps freshmen get on their feet socially, Pirlott says. Beyond that, though,
she wanted a change.
"This, I don't consider a dorm at all. It's small apartments."
Following a national trend and responding to student demand, most of the
residential construction the U of M has done over the past several years has
been upscale, from two single bedrooms connected by a bathroom to places
with full kitchens and living rooms.
"Students don't want to live in traditional residence halls anymore, but
they don't necessarily want to live off campus," says Chad Horsley,
Riverbend's apartment coordinator.
And they're asking for amenities. Riverbend Commons, for example, has
barbecue grills on a huge patio overlooking the Mississippi River, a party
room with a full kitchen and tables on one end and a big-screen television
and CD player with surround sound on the other, basketball and sand volley
ball courts, a state-of-the-art computer center, free washers and dryers and
an ice machine. The underground parking costs an extra $lOO a month.
The fancier setups cost more: A triple-occupancy room at traditional U of
M residence halls costs $1,696 per semester; a "Super Single" at Riverbend
Commons costs up to $3,241 per semester.
Across the country, "people are considering residential living as full ser
vice," says Jennie Robinson, residential life director at Hamline University
in St. Paul. They want technology, including card access for security, Internet
service and cable television. Some colleges eliminate telephone jacks in the
rooms and give students cell phones.
Students also want co-ed living _ even co-ed bathrooms, kitchens and
living rooms. But, Robinson says, "I've only heard of a couple of schools
that are doing co-ed rooms."
And students want a "self-directed community," which means they make
their own rules and get along without a paid staff person living with them.
Few colleges prohibit members of the opposite sex from staying over
night anymore. The College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, however, draws the
line at 2 a.m.
"We get a lot of students who complain, but a lot understand it's about
privacy, about the safety of the building, about the mission of the Sisters,"
says complex coordinator Sabrina Anderson.
St. Catherine's would like to keep more upperclassmen on campus, though,
and is considering building more housing. Before construction, they'll listen
carefully to what the mostly female student body wants, Anderson says.
Women's colleges seem to be particularly sensitive to the way students
live. In a national student survey on dormitory quality, nine of the top 20
"Dorms Like Palaces" were women's colleges, with Smith and Bryn Mawr
among the top five. Loyola College in Baltimore ranked first in dorm quality
in the Princeton Review's annual college guide, "The Best 351 Colleges."
The top 20 "Dorms Like Dungeons" are mostly at state universities.
"Quality-of-life issues have become serious things for schools to consider,
especially in the recruitment process," says Erik Olson, editor of the Princeton
Review. "It's a key consideration, especially when a student is looking at
similarly selective colleges. ... The amount of money that schools are sink-
ing into developing bigger, nicer dorms is astounding
Crossword
ACROSS
1 Water trail
5 '6os hairdos
10 Practice blows
14 Maturing agent
15 Intimidate
16 Aggressive
remark
17 Geometry
calculation
18 Me too!
19 Fall event?
20 Peter Pan's arch
enemy
23 Hubbub
24 Planted
25 Splash of liquid
27 Sch. grp.
29 Some NFL
linemen
31 Commit capital
32 Gardener's tools
34 "Bill Haley and
the "
37 Unrestricted
38 Calendar units
39 Newts
43 Turns aside
45 Mall unit
46 Shorebird with
an upward
curving bill
49 Styled after
51 Deli loaf
52 Marathon or mile
55 Part of PA.
57 Columnist Smith
58 William H.
Bonney
62 Kind of rock or
rain
64 Time off base
65 Bronte sister
66 Diner reading
67 Consumed
68 Frat getup
69 Advantage
70 Garb
71 Team in a yoke
DOWN
1 Female military
g r p•
2 Tat Mahal's place
3 Memento
4 Poetic Muse
5 Tacking on
6 "I'll Be Seeing
You" songwriter
by Debra O'Connor
Knight Ridder Newspapers
All rights reserved
7 Babe's family Solutions
8 In first place
9 Police sources
10 E. Bilko or
Snorkel
11 Sea villain
12 Remains
13 Gunshot
21 Cobbler's
punches
22 Philosopher
Immanuel
26 Boob tube
27 PGA member
28 Spigot
30 Wound reminder
33 Make a law
35 Mel the Giant
36 Tableland
38 Itemized
40 Military post
honoring the first 46 Burning 56 Former Pac
secretary of war 47 Spoken alliance
41 Attempt aloud 59 Montand of "Z"
42 Meet with 48 Seeping 60 "Picnic"
44 Word of action 50 Grows dark playwright
45 Miss Universe's 53 Sharply defined 61 College bigwig
band 54 Make joyous 63 Expected
The rankings are in; Through the looking glass;
by Mike Pmgree KRT Campus
The monikers are straight out he said, but it's "done a tremen
of a high-school yearbook: dous job of building its core un- THEY SHOULD PUT A SIGN THERE!
"Most likely to succeed," "most dergraduate business program. A driver lost control of his van on a highway in Scotland, skidded
happy," "most quirky." Last year, they had nearly 800 and came to rest on the side of the road. Minutes later, another driver
But they're being used to de- recruiters come to campus, and lost control on the exact same spot, skidded off the road and crashed
scribe colleges, not people. I think the graduating class was into the van.
Carleton College is the "most only about 1,000."
fun-loving," Bentley College the Most of the schools are pri- MOM, STOP, YOU'RE OUT OF CONTROL!
"most career-focused" _ and vate and pricey. Only two pub- A 34-year-old woman threw a birthday party at a Pennsylvania hotel
they share the trait of being lic schools are listed, mainly be- for her teenage son and his friends, during which she became heavily
among the 12 hottest colleges, cause most state schools aren't intoxicated on booze and pills. She then proceeded,•police say, to
according to the eighth annual spending as much money on in- come on strong to her son's friends, baring her breasts and trying to
Kaplan/Newsweek college novative programs, Basili said. lick their faces. She pulled down her pants to show them her thong,
guide. At private schools, "people but the boys said she wasn't wearing any underwear. The boys kept
Throwing scientific rigor out are spending money building moving away from her as she approached them. She faces an
the window, the guide's editors new dorms, new libraries. At assortment of charges.
opted to find less well-known state schools, we're not seeing
schools, but those that were that kind of growth," Basili said. HER FACE? NO OFFICER, BUT I CAN DESCRIBE HERBOOBS!
likely to offer an engaging and Public schools also got lim- A female mugger snatched a woman's purse in Clapham
rigorous education through an ited play because the guide's
Junction, England, ran a short distance, then turned and flashed her
unusual curriculum, diverse stu- editors looked for colleges that
breasts at stunned onlookers. A police officer speculated on her
dent body, vibrant location or received a high number of ap
motives: "Perhaps it was an attempt to confuse the public."
other unique reasons. plications.
"The list is completely biased. "State schools tend to get ap- L
It's not a ranking," said Seppy plications every year from the
Basili, contributing editor to the same high schools. There's not
"How to Get Into College enough buzz about them, be-
Guide." cause of the sheer demography,"
"We look for programs that Basili said.
have something innovative go- Some private schools on the
ing on," he said. Rankings "to- list saw a steep rise in applica
ta 11 y dominate too many tions, such as St. John's College,
people's minds. Our hope is to which received almost 20 per
represent schools that people cent more last year, Basili said.
may not have thought about." Evergreen State College, in
For instance, Carleton Col- Olympia, Wash., is one of two
lege, in Northfield, Minn., is public schools on the list, be
named the most fun-loving cause it offers "private college
school partly because "there are attention at state tuition prices,"
1.9 Frisbees per student on cam- Basili said.
pus," Basili joked. The liberal arts and sciences
But Frisbees aren't the only school teaches a variety of
reason the school is listed. courses to about 4,000 students,
Carleton also offers 17 theme and out-of-state tuition is about
dorms from which to choose, $12,000, he said. "We think it's
and two-thirds of students spend an unprecedented bargain."
their junior year off-campus, he Louisiana State University, in
said. Plus, three 10-week terms Baton Rouge, is the other pub
mean students can take a vari- lie school among the hottest
ety of classes. schools, partly because of its
Bentley College, a small busi- diversity program. Twenty-four
ness school near Boston, is sue- percent of the 29,000 students
cessful in connecting graduates are minorities, and the school
with jobs, Basili said. graduates more black chemistry
"Twenty years ago, Bentley Ph.D.s than any school in the
was a small accounting college country, Basili said
that didn't get much attention '
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Friday, September 19, 2003
by Andrea Coombes
Knight Ridder Newspapers
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