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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 1990)
Battalion Housing Guide Wednesday, April 4,1990 \ggies share rent with elder residents Students sign up for housing deal By PAM MOOMAN Of The Battalion Staff Sometimes different is bet ter. Some Texas A&M students have chosen not to live in apartments with their peers but in the homes of older commu nity residents as part of the Aggie Elder Share Program. “Mainly it’s for low-cost or no-cost housing,” said Dr. Peggy Owens, program leader for consumer sciences and housing specialist for the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. The housing program matches students with older residents who have space in their homes and helps both parties, she said. The older person can get their lawn mowed, chores done and rides to the store or doctor, as well as compan ionship and security, she said. Owens said the student gets low-cost housing, a quiet, home-like atmosphere for studying and a bridge in the generation gap that helps dis pel myths and stereotypes. Student participants in this program usually have had ex perience with a grandparent or older employer, she said. Photo by Jay Janner Joyce Heiman (Left)shares her home with freshman David Ernstes (Right)as part of the Aggie Elder Share Program. “They know kind-of what they’re getting into,” she said. Owens knows quite a bit about the program because she is the go-between for students and elderly residents. Interestingly enough, Owens has never met any of the elderly homeowners. She conducts all necessary busi ness with them over the tele phone. She has, however, met all of the students. Senior citizens register with Owens, who then tries to match them with students who have contacted her. The stu dents go to the elderly per son’s home, and then it’s up to each party. Two to five stu dents may go to one home be fore a good match is made, Owens said. “It’s a renter-rentee situa tion,” she said. It’s like looking for an apartment and having certain criteria in mind, Owens said. The average age of partici pating homeowners is 68, Owens said, although ages range from 60 to 95. The typical student who participates in this program is See Share/Page 16 Dorms go coed to compete with off-campus housing By KEVIN M. HAMM Of The Battalion Staff To compete more effectively with off-campus housing, three Northside residence halls will be coeducational this summer, Texas A&M’s assistant director of housing said. “During the summer we’re trying to accommodate more with all the spe cial groups of students that we have, and compete more effectively with the apartments,” John T. White said. “It’s really a marketing or recruiting tool. “Summer school housing has been decreasing in enrollment the last seve ral years and we were trying to think of ways to make housing on campus more attractive.” Although Schuhmacher, Mclnnis and Hughes Halls all will be consid ered coed, the suites themselves will be same-sexed. In past years, differ ent floors were same-sexed, not suites, White said. “If you go coed by suite, people get the wrong impression, like you’re going to have a male and female shar ing a bathroom,” he said. “And that’s not true. The floors are going to be coed, but the suites will stay se- quence-sexed.” Also, since the halls will have pri vate rooms only, visitation will be ex tended to 24 hours. White said. An other reason for the private rooms and extended visitation is the lack of study space on Northside, he said. To cut down on confusion in as signing rooms, White said, students currently living in these halls and who will be here during the summer may keep the samd room. Private rooms in the three coed halls will cost $303 per summer ses sion. The housing office also is coordi nating with the Residence Hall Asso ciation to determine students’ wants and needs. “We ran it by the Residence Hall Association,” White said. “They rec ommended and also supported the idea. They were extremely pleased it was going to go through.” RHA President Leah Hanselka said RHA and the housing office have been working on more coed-hall pro posals for the future. The two organizations are looking into converting Northside halls into coed housing, possibly as soon as Fall 1991. But for the time being, this summer is a testing period. “We thought it would be something good to try during the summer,” she said. “There will definitely be more coed housing on Northside in the years to come.” Students can apply for summer housing now. Applications are being accepted in the North and South Area offices and the YMCA builiding. Coed housing available for grad students By BILL HETHCOCK Of The Battalion Staff On-campus, coed housing for graduate students will be available during both sessions this summer. Thomas Moorman, summer housing coordinator, said Haas Hall, a modular style res idence hall, will house grad uate students and those older than 24. Applications to live in Haas Hall are available today at the housing office in 101 YMCA. Students living in this hall will have 24-hour visitation privileges, Moorman said. Noise limitations will be in ef feet throughout the hall, he said. Moorman said the housing office does not anticipate any problems enforcing the noise limitations. “Graduate and undergrad uate students over 25 years old tend to be less noisy,” Moor man said. “This will be a hall where people can get a lot of studying done. “No loud music will be al lowed, but we don’t expect problems with that because people in this hall will be peo ple who like a quieter environ ment and chose to live in a quieter hall,” he said. Graduate students always have been allowed to live on campus during the summer, Moorman said. However, there is no on-campus housing for graduate students in the fall or spring semesters because priority is given to undergrad uates and all available space generally fills up, he said. Students living in Haas Hal' this summer can live in a pri vate room or a double room Each room has a private bath room and the hall is air-condi tioned. The cost of a private room is $848 for both summe sessions or $424 for one ses sion. A double room will cost $636 for the entire summer o $318 for one session. Residence halls will open for the summer May 30. Sum mer classes begin June 4. The deadline to apply for on-cam pus summer housing is the first day of classes, Moorman said. Off-Campus Aggies helps students get involved Leaders place top priority on representing members, providing useful services By STACY E. ALLEN Of The Battalion Staff For students living off campus who don’t feel a part of campus life, an organization exists that can give them just the push they need to get involved in campus activities —Off- Campus Aggies. Keith Powell, a senior economics major at Texas A&M and president of OCA, said the organization’s top priority is to represent off-campus students’ views on campus. Powell said OCA works closely with Student Government and the Resident Hall Association (RHA) to ensure representation. He said OCA recently completed a proposal with the two organizations which could create more parking spaces for off- campus students. In addition to representation. OCA offers other services that help students in different areas of off- campus life, Powell said. Speakers often are invited to come to OCA meetings and address topics of direct interest to off-cam pus students. Powell said speakers might include apartment managers, representatives from the campus po lice department who give tips about apartment safety and speakers from various campus organizations. Powell said that because fliers of ten are displayed in dorms to give information concerning campus or ganizations, off-campus students are at a disadvantage in finding out what A&M organizations have to offer and how to get involved. He said representatives from or ganizations who speak at meetings p V give off-campus students informa tion they need to become involved with campus activities. Emphasizing the “other educa tion” and giving freshmen an outlet to meet people is an important func tion of OCA, Powell said. “It’s a lot harder to meet people when you live off campus as op posed to living on campus, so we act as a supplement to off campus stu dents,” he said. “We stress building friendships as one of our top priori ties.” Powell said there are about 250 OCA members at the beginning of the year, but the number usually dwindles to about 75 active mem bers later in the semester. He said members are divided into commit tees to work on the various activities sponsored by OCA throughout the year. Some activities include a Christmas formal, spring theme dance, a haunted house and an an nual Aggie Olympics between all campus organizations. OCA also tries to get a represen- tive from each apartment complex to sponsor various activities such as movies or parties for members. Powell said if students are moving off campus for the first time and en joy meeting people, he highly rec ommends OCA. “If students are active in OCA, they will get just as much out of A&M and the ‘other education’ as those living on campus,” he said. “If you enjoy meeting people and are willing to give some of your time, we in turn will offer you leadership skills, long-lasting friendships and a higher quality of life than just going on campus during the day and going home at night.”