Students recognize benefits of living on campus By Emily Kaplan COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Miriah Rutledge has noticed many upperclassmen view living on campus as a social stigma. On weekends when Rutledge goes out and meets new people, they’ll often ask her where she lives. “And when I tell them I live in Pollock, they usually laugh,” Rutledge (sophomore-education) said. “And I’m like, ‘Dude, don’t laugh. By living on campus I probably have more friends than you.’ ” The social aspect is just one of Downtown stores offer ways to help spice up dorm By Joshua Glossner COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Dorm rooms can be tricky to personalize without spending a for tune or overcrowding the space. Fortunately, downtown State College offers many options to help turn your dorm room into a sanc tuary. The Apple Hoe, 136 E. College Ave, provides a variety of posters and tapestries to choose from. Earle Hamer, manager of The Apple free, recommended the tap estries as they act as a multi-pur pose fabric. “They can be used as a way to give privacy in dorms by hanging them over doors, windows or your bunk,” Hamer said, adding that they can also be used as a cover for a couch or as a room divider or tablecloth. Poster choices range from music to TV shows and movies. Hamer said the store has posters for everything from the TV show “Jersey Shore” and movie “The Wizard of Oz” to classic rock musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Dave Matthews. Hamer said all posters are cur rently $5.99. “With the way the economy is, this helps students afford buying posters for their dorms,” he added. Another store that offers posters the reasons Rutledge loves resid ing in Ritner Hall. And she’s not alone. Housing officials said about 6,800 students choose to live on campus after their freshman year, citing benefits such as location, security and opportunity to eat in the dining commons. “I really like living in the dorms,” said Chris Hershey, whose room is on the ground floor of a seven-story hall. “We always keep our door open and have met a ton of different people. I feel like you don’t get that Same atmosphere in apartments.” Hershey (sophomore-division of undergraduate studies) said anoth Glft Adventures, 137 E. Beaver Ave., displays artwork in the window that students can buy for their rooms. and tapestries for dorms is Uncle Eli’s, 129 E. Beaver Ave. George Martin, an employee at Uncle Eli’s, said the store not only sells posters and tapestries, but also has a variety of items to help make students’ dorm decorations more personal. “We have paper lanterns and knick-knacks of various types,” Martin said. “We also have stuff for er plus of living on campus is prox imity to the academic buildings. Hershey’s earliest class is at 8 a.m., and he usually wakes up at 7:10 or 7:15 to get ready. If he lived off campus, Hershey estimates he’d have to wake up at least a half-hour earlier. “Also, eating in the dining halls is awesome,” Hershey said. “If I was in an apartment I’d probably just eat Hot Pockets all day. That’s not good.” Perhaps nobocly knows that bet ter than Lisa Wandel. Wandel is the director of residen tial dining for the university and also a Penn State parent Her son is people who are artistic and cre ative to make their own creations.” There are origami sets, post cards and paints to make unique art pieces and collages with. Gift Adventures, 137 E. Beaver Ave, has canvas paintings for sale if students are not a fan of posters but still want something to spice up their wall. “We have a variety of gallery and living off campus for the first time this semester. “And trust me, I know what he’s eating,” Wandel said. “I don’t think students have time with their class schedules, projects and work to do proper grocery shopping. Our din ing commons offer full nutritional meals.” Another benefit of living on cam pus is a constant sense of security, said Steve Shelow, director of Penn State Police. Shelow said college campuses, “by nature, are safe places to work, study and play.” “I’m not necessarily saying living off campus is unsafe,” Shelow said. canvas prints that have a finished look so they are ready to hang after purchasing,” said Steve Artz, man ager of Gift Adventures. Artz said he thinks the canvas prints which cost anywhere from $l3 to $B5 would be a great touch to any dorm room because the paintings are bright and cheer ful. Gift Adventures also offers vases, wall decor, plaques of local “But at the end of the day, on-cam pus residents are probably safer because of the systems and processes we have in place.” That includes 90 to 100 emer gency phones sprinkled throughout campus, 24-hour card access sys tems that control entry to dorms and police-trained student employ ees who monitor halls from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily, Shelow said. Fbr Hershey, that just adds to the total package. “I’ve never lived off campus so I can’t really compare,” Hershey said. “But for now, I love where I live.” To e-mail reporter exkso49@psu.edu streets and businesses, as well as art done by locals, he said. He said the store also has sea sonal items and is currently setting up for Halloween. Gift Adventures will have Halloween costumes, party decorations, accessories, wigs and tattoos, he said. It also has Christmas ornaments and fall themed items to get into the spirit of the season. Kitchen Kaboodle, 104 W Beaver Ave, is the place to go for some effi cient dorm room items. Katie Dawes, owner of Kitchen Kaboodle, said adding just a few knick-knacks like long-lasting fragrance diffusers in various scents and an easy-to-clean rug to a space can help turn it into a private getaway. The store sells glasses with designs themed for each of the 50 states, which should appeal to the diverse origins of the student body, Dawes said An atypical but useful item found at Kitchen Kaboodle is the Sodastream, which allows stu dents to make their own soda and save Lioncash for laundry. “All you have to do is put in water and then place the CO2 cartridge in the machine,” Dawes said. “The water will then turn into a fizzing flavored water drink” To e-mail reporter Jdgs299@psu.edu
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