Section A · Page 10
Wednesday, February 7, 2001
The University Daily Kansan
Student Living
Housing letter confuses, angers residents
By Cynthia Melakasis
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
A letter sent last week by the Ellsworth Hall complex director to residents whose roommates had moved out created mixed feelings for some of its recipients.
The letter stated that, according to the student housing consolidation policy, prior occupants of double rooms had two options to adjust their housing situation. Residents could either retain the room as a single and start paying the appropriate rate or find another student housing resident who also lacked a roommate and room
with that person.
The letter gave a Feb. 2 deadline, noting that if residents did not return a completed form with the name of their new roommate and the number of the room where they would reside by then, they would be automatically billed for a single room.
Kate Petersen, Prairie Village freshman, said the way the letter was phrased made her feel angry and frustrated.
Petersen referred to the written Vacancies and Consolidation Policy, which provides residents with a third option, one that was not mentioned in the letter she received.
According to the policy, in
addition to retaining their room as a single or undertaking the responsibility of finding a roommate, residents also have the alternative of remaining in their room and paying the double-room rate until student housing assigns them a new roommate.
"I was 100 percent willing to have a new roommate, but they were trying to place the burden on my shoulders," said Petersen.
She said that her roommate moved out the previous semester and that she had been assigned a new roommate who never showed up.
"It's not my fault and my responsibility," said Petersen. "I don't think I should have to do
that."
Petersen said that she had her mother call housing and that it was after that phone call that housing agreed to take care of the situation for her.
Lauren Karp, Buffalo Grove,
Ill., freshman, also said that the
letter made her angry.
"They were basically telling me that I had to pay $400 until I could find someone to room with." she said.
Karp said she felt like housing was trying to make her do something so that they would not have to do it.
She said she also was contacted by her complex director who explained her third option to her after her mother called the
Department of Student Housing.
Department of Music, Hunting But Michelle Moore, Ellsworth Hall complex director, said that the purpose of the phrasing was not to mislead students, frustrate them or burden them with extra responsibilities. Moore said that she had been instructed by her supervisors to encourage students to make their own roommate matches.
She also said that she worked with frustrated or angry students who contacted her and explained them their third option.
Diana Robertson, associate director of student housing and Moore's supervisor, said that the goal of the process was to try and avoid administrative action
and encourage student initiative instead.
"We tried to take a personalized, caring approach," Robertson said. "It is unfortunate that some people chose to see it negatively."
Kelley Wright, Medicine Lodge freshman, who also received the letter, said that he was upset at first but that student housing helped him find a roommate.
Wright said he was introduced to a program which allowed him to room with a foreign exchange student for a semester and then have a single room on a double-room rate for another semester.
"It wasn't such a bad deal after all," Wright said.
Edited by Melinda Weaver
NO ROOMMATES, PLEASE
Privacy of living alone can outweigh loneliness
By Cynthia Malakasis
writer @kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
A late-night snack with friends or a few hours at the library are Grant Sentz's escapes from loneliness.
The occasional twinge of loneliness is the price Sentz, Eden Prairie, Minn., junior, has to pay in exchange for the privacy of living alone.
But students who have made that choice say the perks of living without roommates and not having to share space outweighed any disadvantages of a single-living arrangement.
Sentz said even though loneliness might sink in sometimes and living alone cost more than sharing space with roommates, he was pleased with his living arrangement.
Lindsay Millsap, Noperville, Ill., senior, lives in a single-bedroom apartment after sharing a house with five roommates last year. Millsap said one of the advantages of living alone was having a bathroom to herself. Photo by Thad Allender/KANSAN
Lindsay Millsap, Naperville, Ill., senior, got her own apartment after living with roommates for four years. Millsap said unpleasant roommate situations were the main reason she chose to spend her last year at the University in a single apartment.
"I lived alone as a senior in high school, and I had people over all the time," he said. "I was never alone. I sometimes get sick of being alone now, but I don't need people over all the time anymore. Back then I did."
"I got tired of bills not being paid, and the burden being constantly on me," Millsap said. "Personal qualms with roommates also added to my stress level."
Millsap said she made it her goal to find a single apartment and enjoy what she described as "stable living."
Even though she said she missed having other people around now and then — especially during meal times — she was happy with her living arrangements.
"I don't have to leave my house to go study anymore," Millsap said. "Everything is on my terms."
Unpleasant experiences with roommates may be an incentive
for single-living,but the desire for privacy can stem from various needs or situations.
Yiannis Zachariou, Nicosia, Cyprus, graduate student, said he chose to alter his living arrangements when he started working toward his master's degree.
"I had fun living with roommates, but as a graduate student, I need my own space," Zachariou said. "I can study until 2 a.m., play music until 2 a.m., or sleep in the living room if that's what I
Zachariou said his schoolwork involved enough social interaction to keep him from feeling lonely. He said when he got home at the end of the day, he needed his own space.
want. I don't have any restrictions."
"I need to sit alone for a while and get back to my senses," he said. "If I need social contact again, I go out."
- Edited by Jay Pilgreen
Roaches reported residing at Towers
By Cynthia Malakasis writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Kate Hackett has a newfound sense of relief. An exterminator came yesterday to rid her apartment of the cockroaches she has lived with since October.
Hackett, Overland Park sophmore, lives with RyanE Olson, also an Overland Park sophmore, in Tower D of the Javhawker Towers.
"We saw cockroaches every week," Olson said. "Most of them were baby ones that ran away, but some of them were huge."
The residents agreed that their apartment should have been disinfected months before. Olson contacted the towers' front desk in October and was told that a technician would be sent to deal with the problem.
When no one came before or during winter break, she and Olson contacted the office again and were asked to fill an official form. Olson did the paperwork, but two days later she was told it had been lost and she had to do it again.
However, the exterminator did not show up until yesterday.
Hackett said that she was glad an exterminator had been sent, but that she still thought she
and her three roommates deserved more consideration.
"It doesn't seem like they wanted to take the time to get it done," Hackett said. "I hope we don't get them again in the future and have to go through this mess again."
Jamie Shew, Jayhawker Towers complex director, said the towers residents' complaints were addressed when requests were put in.
Shew said he did not think the situation was different than any other apartment building, and that he was not aware of the problem. Ken Stoner, director of student housing, said he had never been notified about the issue.
Eric Proctor of Orkin, a termite and pest control service, said cockroaches needed to be dealt with on a consistent basis. "One time will not work," he said.
Hackett said neither the exterminator nor housing officials mentioned anything about the exterminator making a second visit.
And the problem extended beyond Olson and Hackett's apartment.
Gina Wright, also a resident of Tower D, said she thought cockroaches were a general problem
in her tower.
"When I first moved in there were roaches," said Wright, Kansas City, Kan., sophomore. "I cleaned up and put out boric acid, but they still came."
Wright, however, did not make any complaints to the front desk.
"When it was hot, I complained about the air-conditioner and later about the heat, but nothing happened," Wright said. "I thought 'Why waste time if they wouldn't do anything about it?'" Wright said she still saw cock-
Wright said she still saw cockroaches in her apartment.
"I've been seeing some tiny ones lately." Wright said.
Residents from Tower B also complained about cockroaches, which did not surprise Proctor.
"They travel along common pipes," he said, adding if one apartment was infested with cockroaches, most neighboring apartments would probably have them as well.
Randall Rock, a physician at Watkins Health Center, said the presence of cockroaches could be an indication of poor hygiene. Rock said residents should make sure food was not left out, there were no cracks or crevices and things were kept dry and clean.
— Edited by Leita Schultes
The Associated Press
Congo traveler could have deadly disease
HAMILTON, Ontario — A woman who arrived from Congo and fell ill in Canada is being tested for hemorrhagic viruses, including Ebola, doctors said yesterday.
The identity of the woman has not been released. She was admitted to a Hamilton hospital on Sunday and has been described as drifting in and out of consciousness.
The viral hemorrhagic fevers suspected are a group of contagious tropical infections that are life-threatening. Doctors say the illness could also be meningitis, an infection of the fluid of the spinal cord and brain.
Blood samples have been sent to a Winnipeg laboratory and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, officials said yesterday. Results are expected tomorrow.
The sick woman arrived Saturday
Canadian health authorities asked for a list of passengers, but also "advised us they do not consider this passenger to be contagious for casual contact," Cooke said. The flight's crew members have been notified, but no special steps for them were ordered or taken.
The woman was brought Sunday to Henderson General Hospital in Hamilton, where she was staying. She become ill after arriving in Hamilton, said Dr. Monir Taha, a city public health official.
Dr. Colin D'Cunha, an Ontario medical official, said Monday the illness could be Crimean-Congo fever, one of the viral hemorrhagic fevers. Malaria and meningitis were other possibilities, he said.
at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Air Canada Flight 735 from Newark International Airport in New Jersey, airline representative Laura Cooke said.
"It's a game of probabilities until
"Based on information at this time, I wouldn't say the danger is zero," D'Cunha said. "But it would be misleading to say it's a lot. The evidence is pointing to minimal."
In the United States, a representative for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the patient exhibited no symptoms of illness during her trip, making the risk that fellow travelers could contract a fever like Ebola "very, very low."
The stricken woman was being kept in isolation.
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Aware a possible Ebola case could cause public concern and even panic. Canadian officials were stressing the fever could only be passed through bodily fluids such as blood, saliva or semen. There is no cure.
If the illness is Ebola, it would be the first human case of the fever in North America.
the test results come back," D'Cunha said.