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COLLEGE BOUND

mall Rooms,
New Friends:

The ins and outs of college dorms.

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DAVID ZEMAN STAFF WRITER

omething old, some-
thing new — that's
what most college
freshmen can look
forward to when they
arrive at residence
halls in the fall.
On the one hand, nervous fresh-
man can expect their rooms to look
much as they've been described by
older siblings and even parents.
Which is to say, in many cas-
es, institutional and cramped.
But students will also find
innovations in dormitory life un-
known to earlier generations.
For instance, at the state's two
largest schools — the Universi-
ty of Michigan and Michigan State
University — dorms have been
transformed into extensions of
campus libraries, with academ-
ic and computer support at each
student's fingertips.
But for all the technological ad-
vances, college students say the
biggest advantages to living in a
dorm their first year have little to
do with computers or academics.
First and foremost, residence
halls are an easy and casual way
to meet other students experienc-
ing the same gut-wrenching anxi-
eties.
"You are thrown in with a lot of
people who are in the same boat as
you are," said U-M student David
Valazzi, 19, who just finished his
sophomore year at the Mosher Jor-
dan residence hall.
Mr. Valazzi, of New Jersey, one of
several U-M students interviewed
on the subject of housing, said fresh-
men can easily become lost in the
hurly-burly of college life. Final ex-
ams, homesickness and social inse-
curities can all contribute to feelings
of depression, feelings that can some-
times be calmed when students see
they are not alone.
"Any college campus has a kind
of institutional culture and the eas-
iest, most effective way to get into
that culture is to live on campus,"
said Alan Levy, a U-M spokesper-
son for student housing.

"Even for bright, assertive 18-
year-olds, coming to college in-
volves assimilations and changes
that students have to come to grips
with. College can be a lonely place,
even in a social setting."
Janice Falzon, 19, of Franklin,
was one of several students who
cited often-maligned cafeteria food
as another advantage of dorm life.
"There is always food available,
and you don't have to take the time
to make your own meal," said Ms.
Falzon, who just completed her
freshman year at U-M's Stockwell
Hall.
Stockwell, an all-female dorm,
had its benefits and drawbacks,
Ms. Falzon noted. On the plus side,
lounges and common areas tend to
stay cleaner when there are no 19-
year-old males on the premises.
But Ms. Falzon said the all-female
format made for a cliquish and
"gossipy" environment at times.
Virtually all college freshmen
live in some form of dormitory set-
ting. At most schools, on-campus
housing is either mandatory or
strongly suggested for incoming
students. And the numbers say
that, for most students, the expe-
rience is positive.
Roger Brooks, a housing official
at MSU, said 50 to 60 percent of
MSU freshmen return to the
dorms their sophomore year.
`They tend to develop much clos-
er, tight-knit relationships with
their dorm-mates" than with oth-
er students, Mr. Brooks said. It is
not hard to see why.
Dorm life marks the first time
many college-age students inter-
act with young people of different
ethnic, religious or geographic
backgrounds. Students in dorms
also tend to hang out, at least at
first, with other students on their
hall, sharing horror stories about
professors and offering support
when necessary.
Support is offered in other ways
as well. In most dorms — indeed,
on most hallways in a dorm —
there is an upperclassperson
known as a residential adviser, or
RA These students are trained to
help new students become accli-
mated to the school and its pres-
sures.
"They act as counselor, as con-
fidante, as a kind of older brother
or sister," said Mr. Brooks. R.A.'s
can help students with academic
problems or may act as a referral ti
source if students have emotion- —
al or physical difficulties.
Still, the move from family home
to college dorm can be traurnaic..
For a vast majority of modern- 83
day students, their freshman year