Campus goes 'traditional' with new dorm by Cynthia D. Stowell There are the elms, the lawns, tbe walkways, even occasional chimes from Smith Center. PSU has the look and feel of a traditional college campus; but one classic element has always been missing-the dormitory. Until now. A small experiment on the third noor of the Montgomery Building has, since fall term, provided the missing piece. Known as a "residence life program," the new student housing option is PSU's first dorm. It is also a first for Portland Student Services, Inc., a non·profit corporation that has provided apartments and sleeping rooms for Portland area students since 1969. Nearly 1,000 units in eleven bUildings on or near the PSU campus are available to PSU students, some on a room and board basis. PSU and PSS worked together to create the residence life option, aimed at the incoming freshman who wants to make a slower transition r~om family to independence, or SImply wants the companionship and support of group living. "What we find," said PSS Housing Information Officer Paula Fasano, who personally talks to most prospective renters and some of their parents, "is a lot of people who want to live on their Own but when they realize whal's involved in keeping an apartment, they have second thoughts." Parents have their own concerns about letting their sons and daughters live alone in the city, she said. Orcilia Forbes, vice president for student affairs at PSU, welcomes the new dormitory program. "Some students may not have given us serious consideration in the past because of the lack of dormitory-type housing, with the traditional meal service and supervised environment" she said. "We've had very favorabl~ responses to the program at orientation sessions and high school visitations," she added. At only fifty percent capacity, the 4Q..room facility is still making a reputation for itself, but those involved feel they have a success on their hands. "It's greal/' beams Fasano, who admits to having felt apprehensive al the outset "It's like a little community up there," she said ~ffice~er first floor Montgomery Fasano heaps praise on the students' "mother, father, counselor and diSCiplinarian," Rick Maclennan, 27, who is the program's resident assistant. "He's open and supportive. He keeps his eye on the kids and keeps their motivation level up." Maclennan, a junior in speech communications at PSU. likes to minimize his watchdog role. "I try not to be a hawk, looking out my peephole/' he said, "but I'm 10 PSU has the elms, chimes and lawns of the classic campus. Now it has a dorm, too. PSU freshmen ~alerie ,effers (Ieff) and Rick look visit with Sakal Mam (right) in her dorm room on the th,rd floor of Montgomery. Forty rooms have been converted and furnished for the new room and board option. PSS housing: 'It's not crummy!' When Paula Fasano came to Portland Student Services in 1981 as housing information officer, il had an established reputation. But it wasn't necessarily pOSitive. "1 kept hearing people say about our hOUSing, 'It's really crummy', II said Fasano. "And I kept saying, 'II's not crummy--come look at it!' "They did come, and you know what they said? 'Hey, it's not crummy!'" In 1969, PSS saved from the wrecking ball nine old brick buildings on the PSU campus, and operated them as student housing. Since then, PSS has acquired the Ondioe f~idence on S. W. Sixth and built the Goose Hollow on the other side of campus. In all, PSS offers 1,000 units-from sleeping rooms to two-bedroom apartments-to students of PSU, Oregon Health Sciences University and, to a limited extent, local community colleges. But through the years, PSS housing has developed a less than flattering image among PSU students. . A rehabilitation program launched two years ago has sought to shake that image. As part of the project, all appliances have been replaced, hardwood floors refinished, sprinklers installed, plumbing improvement5 made and handicap access added, said Fasano. A more specific "Save the Ondine" program focuses on refurbishing and redecorating, and includes an ongoing "cleanliness campaign. II PSS is now proud enough of the Ondine to make it available in the summer to PSU-related groups for shorHerm lodg;ng. last summer, PSS staged a couple of tOUfS through its buildings to show interested people what was available to students. "I was favorably impressed, II said PSU's vice president (or student affairs Orcilia Forbes. "Both the structural and visual environment have been upgraded, and I feel very comfortable recommending PSS housing to any prospective student." constantly aware of the students' beha".ior." If someone is coming in late night after night, not studying, or seems to be preoccupied, Maclennan finds a non·threatening way to intervene . "I try to maintain a balance be~een authority figure and friend," sa,d the R.A. He has few rules to enforce-the only real donn rules are no drinking and smoking in the halls and no cooking in the rooms. There are no curfews; the front doors lock for security reasons at 9:00 p.m., but the students have access with code numbers. Fascinated with group processes, Maclennan enjoyed watching the students come up with a rule of their own. At a meeting called to deal with the problem of noise, the residents decided to institute daily "quiet hours," which are still in effect. The R.A. has been impressed with the cooperativeness and tolerance of the group of twenty, most of whom are from 17 to 19 years old and from different countries and social backgrounds. "They don't point oul their differences; they just get along," he remarked. Maclennan is a catalyst from time to time. On the first Sunday after the students', arrival, he led an "ice breaking exercise" designed to uncover common ground. Afterward, they all went out for pizza. And they've been going out together ever since, snapping, playing basketball, or exploring the city. Every Thursday evening they have a hot, sit--down meal together in Mother's Deli downstairs. Maclennan, a stickler for academics, plans to organize study groups this term. Each of the forty private rooms available in the residence life program has a big window, a bed, dresser, desk and sink. Residents share bathrooms down the hall. For socializing, students crowd into the television room, each other's fOoms, or gather spontaneously in the spacious halls. Included in the $1,980 fee for room and board for three terms is a script book good for about len meals a week at Mother'S or at PSU dining areas across the Park Blocks. "It's a good combination of independent living and residence life," commented Fasano about the program. "They set their own parameters for their living style." Maclennan is gratified to see the students "growing in positive ways. They're learning how to take care of themselves, but not in a way that takes a whole lot of risk." GET CAMPUS CALENDAR Alumm Benet't-, (.lrd nq"~9~8
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