The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 01, 2002, Image 3

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The Battalion
Page 3 • Tuesday, October 1, 2002
By Michael Whitlow
THE BATTALION
Andrea Kitten’s motivation for becoming a
esident Adviser (RA) was simple.
had to get a job, and I love living on campus,”
rid Kitten, a sophomore English major. “My fresh-
an year I saw how much fun my RAs were and
low many people they met. 1 decided 1 wanted to try
I wanted to stay in Krueger Hall because of the
igh number of freshmen I could help.”
For many campus residents, RAs are the best
secret nucit jumes for fixing problems in the donn or keeping
ie hall safe.
Meg Boan. a junior finance major, said she was
jcmited for the job.
I came to A&M from Reno, Nev. ” Boan said. ”1
new no one here, and my RA made sure to look
iter me. She invited me to her room one night for
inner, and helped me get involved with my Hall
louncil. After that year they encouraged me to be
■nRA."
Now Boan is an RA for Underwood Hall and is
omg “'“'fechair for Staff Council.
Most RAs agree that living in the dorms and
eeting new people is well worth the paycheck. Yet
lespite the obvious perks of the job, Carrie
idstrom. a senior political science major and a RA
or Krueger, said it still has drawbacks.
“There are times I’ve been on duty the night
efore a test,” Edstrom said. “Sometimes I won’t get
ng preside!;:; chance to study because so many people will
up to nowLn iced something. Our supervisors tell us to put
diool first, but that's not always possible with some
j deal worked)2 »fthe requests you get. I've learned that I shouldn't
d U.N. Secret:' »rocrastinate, but knowing I shouldn’t doesn’t mean
nnan to keep t: hat I don t.
sion going, tt Kitten agreed that job responsibilities often inter-
hui "out of:: ere w 'th schoolwork.
encompass a tit h * s hard to study sometimes,” she said. “I’ll
are miles. :ome home from class and be like ‘I’ve got to
ms inspector !tuc ty' But it seems like as soon as I crack a book
s which willr. ’P 611 there’s a knock on my door and somebody
i> could prove leec * s som ething fixed. Most of the time 1 have to
sc into whetk va ' 1 unt '' everyone else goes to bed, but I've always
denies that lr 3660 a n 'Sht owl so that doesn’t bother me.”
>f mass dest# addition to juggling work with studying, RAs
about lettinfi t | ^ ace< ^ w ’th other difficulties in the line of duty,
hereikYphsl “Paperwork.” Kitten said. “There are piles of it.
m™ Vork-ted fhether they need a faucet fixed or a key replaced.
New Yotk-ted
he U.N. hunt for
chemical agents
id by Jacques
of the lAEAs
and a midlevd
t. I
ill discusswhd
he based in l«jf
operate once <
at types of M
id access to 4
such as aircfil
s and 'i* 35 !
ve got to fill out a form, file a separate report and
out all these other different papers. It’s crazy."
Boan said residents tend to take out their frustra
tions with the rules on their RAs when the rules are
there for residents’ safety.
“I hate having to feel like the police,” Boan said.
“When I see my residents outside the hall. I’m intro
duced as their RA, not their friend. I’ve had resi
dents cuss at me or write nasty things on my board
when they get caught breaking rules, but I’ve seen
girls that got beat up by boyfriends that were let in
without escorts. If I have to upset 50 girls to protect
one, then I’ll do it.”
It is this ability to make a difference that
makes most RA’s say the benefits far outweigh
the drawbacks.
“I love knowing everyone,” Kitten said. “Just
taking care of my hall, there’s 60 people. My door is
always open and my residents are always just drop
ping in to say ‘hi.’ Plus if there’s some current issue
that I care about, I can get involved in that issue by
hosting a program about it.”
My door is always open and
my residents are always just
dropping by to say ‘hi.’
— Andrea Kitten
Resident Adviser for Krueger Hall and a
sophomore English major
Between meeting new friends and the occasion
al odd occurrence, a RA’s life is seldom dull.
“One morning, it was about 10 a.m. I was in the
shower when the fire alarm went off,” Boan said. “I
jumped out of the shower, threw on a bathrobe, and
hurried outside. So here I am having to deal with
UPD and University Maintenance soaking wet and
wearing practically nothing.”
Edstrom agrees that unexpected events are
becoming the norm.
“One time I went to check out the fourth floor
lounge,” Edstrom said. “Almost all of the girls on
that floor were crowded together and staring out the
window. Apparently across the courtyard one of the
girls had left her blinds open. She had her boyfriend
with her and they were having a very good time
together. We told our supervisor we had a sex edu
cation program and that it had the highest atten
dance of any program we held that semester.”
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Three Decades of Performing Arts