Monday, December 13, 2010

Life and Times of the Dorms

One of the first dormitories at CSULB, Los Alamitos.
Courtesy of Shane Kendall


Over 2,400 students that go to CSULB live on campus in the dorms. For nearly the first two decades of schooling at CSULB there were no dorms. The students who did choose to go to school here had to find there own place on there own outside of school. Incoming students who enroll as of now must live in the dorms for the first year if you are a freshman and do not live with a parent or guardian.

The first class began in 1949 as “Los Angeles - Orange County State College”. The first dorms were Los Alamitos and Los Cerritos and built in the late 60’s. The “red bricks”, which Los Alamitos and Los Cerritos are referred to, were the original on campus housing at CSULB. These red bricked buildings have identical buildings found on most of the CSU campuses throughout the state. The Residence followed after in the late 70’s as it added an additional six buildings. Parkside was added nearly a decade after that in the mid 80’s with a total of nine additional buildings. Then almost 30 years went by until the RLC buildings, which consists of two buildings, opened up as CSULB residence last fall in 2009.

For the past 40 years the dorms have been around with much expansion. Starting off with one building and now with about 20 buildings has given a lot of momentum toward even more possible expansion.

Not much expansion has gone on since the last building was added, however. Every year attempts are made to keep them up to date. Structurally, some buildings are renovated every summer. This summer the focus will be on building D, as well as new furniture for the International House.

“The stuff isn’t bad. It’s always pretty clean. Nothing is ever dirty that I’ve seen,” says Tanner Prevtrail, 19, student at CSULB living in Los Alamitos dorms.
Kevan Shipley, 22, a former custodian at CSULB, would sometimes work in the dormitory area says he would never find anything too wild.

The housing officials at CSULB are expecting about 220 new residents for the spring semester. This is due to the increased spring enrollment. “This is an unusually high number of new residents for the spring semester,” says Carol Roberts, the housing director at CSULB. She says they are doing all they can to make sure they are welcomed and to help them make a successful transition to the University.

Plans are beginning to be made for a large scale renovation of Los Alamitos in the summer of 2012, as well as Los Cerritos in the summer of 2013.
Plans to expand would have to be made in a long term due to lack of land to actually place any potential buildings. Off campus building is a couple of miles away which is one option. Another would be to go up! Adding more levels to old buildings could be a potential option, without bringing up possible zoning laws or safety precautions. A third possible option would be to take out parking lot __asdf and build on that spot of land. Obvious repercussions would come from some of these.

Throughout the years the increase in number of students enrolled has not increased too drastically. The possibility of a large scale expansion of the on-campus living situation does not seem to be a possibility in the future anytime soon. The numbers have not increased too much in the past several years. Before the dorms were built the numbers were much lower and had more reason for expansion.

The number of students in the dorms seems to not be too much to handle for some students.
“I love all the people I see. I was always meeting new people and seeing people I haven’t seen before,” says Morgan Dominguez, 19, a former resident at the Residence Commons. “I miss always being around tons of people it makes me feel so alive!”

Whether the dorms are expanding more or staying the way they are, the students seem to love what they have become. From just two buildings half a century ago to 20 buildings now, the on-campus living situations have grown dramatically. From the perspective of the people they are built for (the students), the dorms make living on campus an experience that will leave a good mark on CSULB, as long as they keep up with their standards.

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Carol Roberts, 51, is the Housing Director at CSULB. She has held this position for two years on January 20, 2011. She has been working in Housing and Residential Life for almost 30 years. Before she acquired the position here at CSULB she worked at UCSB, The University of Vermont, USC, SDSU, UCI and Concordia University. She has been living in the Long Beach/Los Alamitos area for almost 20 years. She says she has always dreamed of getting the position she has right now.

This is her first time working at CSULB and hopes to stay here until she retires.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Finding Entertainment at the Dorms

www.techlicious.com
People watching a film on a lawn projector.


Living on campus is not just about eating, sleeping, studying. There are events in the dormitory buildings that go on often to keep the students entertained, and involved.

At the beginning of every year a BBQ is set up with small events, with a carnival feel. The food is all free and gives a chance for students to socialize and get comfortable in their new environment.

Projectors are set up around the different dorm buildings with movies to watch at night. Students can sit on the large grass lawns and enjoy what’s playing, all for the low cost of free.

Events are held pretty often for residence. In the dining hall banners are hung all around the walls with upcoming events students can join in on.

“They recently cleared out the dining hall and had a “Rock Band” event set up for anyone who wanted to play,” says Nelly, a student who works at the Residence Dining Hall.

Finding something to do on campus now is as easy as getting lunch and looking up.

Possible Food Fight at Residence Commons Dining Hall

www.funnymos.com
Tomatoe Food Fight


A food fight is probably one of the most stereotypical outbursts thought of when it comes to school cafeterias. However, it does not seem to ever happen in the real world. Only behind the screens of Hollywood movies.

November 13th almost brought that to reality when a food fight scare at CSULB had the Residence Commons Dining Hall manager panicked. The manager of the dining hall alerted the University Police and had them over to help avoid the possible situation from happening.

When the police showed up the manager had already soothed the situation. The police did, however, warn the students that if something like this were to come about students would be cited.

Looks like the real world just isn’t ready for a good old fashioned food fight.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Cafeteria Food has Never Tasted Sooo Good!

www.littlestomaks.com

The old cafeteria lunch.


Getting your grub on at school has gone a long way since the cafeteria pizzas back in elementary school. For 8 dollars you can pig out with more food than you know what to do with.

The dining hall at CSULB dorms have a buffet of almost anything. There is a main course and "special" that alternates each day.

The other options range from ice cream sandwiches, to chinese food, to salad, to an assortment of cereals. No matter what you are in the mood for, the dining hall has it. Hot or cold. Vegetables or desserts.

This deal is not just limited to students.

When asked if homeless people could walk in and eat, Alyssa, a dining hall worker, said as long as they pay it's fine.

"Usually you are supposed to be accompanied by a student," says Nelly, another dining hall worker and student.

Don't let the memories of third grade pizza discourage you. All the food is made fresh ready to go... down your throat! Rubber is no longer an ingredient.

Some People Don't Share a Dorm Room

thestatenislandidea.blogspot.com
Girl lying on bed in dorm.

Having to share a room with somebody is far more complicated than having one all to yourself. Dealing with the clutter of not only your own clothes, books, trash, and all of your other belongings is one thing, but having to deal with twice that might get pretty unorganized and sometimes pretty stressful.

The dorms at CSULB are all shared among two people. There are several buildings (twenty to be exact) throughout the school with wall to wall dorm rooms.

There is, however, one room per building that is dedicated for single person occupancy based on a first come first serve basis. This helps greatly when it comes to avoiding the clutter of two college students living in a box for a year. The single room is more expensive, but in the words of one of the few occupants, George, “It’s definitely worth it.”

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Virgin Finally Finds Love... to Make!



Couple in Bed
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Gay_Couple_togetherness_in_bed_01.jpg



Tanner Prevtail, 18, a sophomore at Cal State Long Beach was very excited to finally move out of his parents house last year and see what the college life is all about. He started college at 17, with something most guys don’t have... his virginity.

Tanner has been making out with girls since he was 16 years old and has always wanted to “go all the way.” He soon met a girl at school and during his 18th birthday (celebrated in the dorms) he finally pulled the trigger in his twin bed while his roommate was out of town.

“It felt so good!” is how Tanner described his “first time” with a girl.

He says he regretted it at first but still would not say no to doing it again.

“I don’t talk to her anymore at all,” he says after being asked about his current relationship with the girl who made his wildest dream come true.

Tanner says he definitely wants to do it again to whoever would willingly share his passion.

Dorms Make You Lazy

Lazy Couch Potato
Photo from:
http://www.jesussite.com/blog/2008/07/characteristics-of-the-less-than-ideal-husband/


Jamie, 19, a sophomore at Cal State Long Beach says living in the dorms makes you lazy.

Instead of walking to the next room for a bite to eat, like in a typical household, you have to walk down a very long hallway, through the lobby, and outside to the next building, to find yourself still waiting in line to pick your food.

If you enjoy a good meal off the ground and want to vacuum the floor for dinner you have to walk all the way down the same long hallway of rooms to borrow a “crappy” vacuum that definitely can’t “suck a golf ball through a garden hose” like we all wish.

Getting things done that requires a long walk every time only kills your drive to do it in the first place. Good thing homework usually requires none of that.