What’s in a name?

A new residence hall will open this fall without a name.

“The only name that we have ascribed to it is ‘new hall,'” Brian

Durick, the director of preview and future director of the new

residence hall said.

When the new residence hall is finished, CSU will take the next

step in reorganizing CSU residence hall life.

“The next phase of residence life calls for demolition of [Ellis

and Newsom], what they’re looking to put in place is an academic

village concept,” Durick.

An academic village is where student housing, dining, classrooms

and teacher offices are all centralized into a small geographic

area or to a single building.

“With some smaller residence halls that may be filled entirely

with a living learning community. Rather that just having a floor

in a building dedicated to pre-vet students… there might be whole

building in unto itself,” Durick said.

The new residence hall, located on the south end of campus

across from Ellis and Newsom, has a modern exterior resembling the

red brick and stone on the Plant Science building, which differs

from CSU’s standard architecture.

The design of the building’s interior also departs from the

previous norms of CSU design and is comparable to the corner rooms

of Durward and Westfall halls where two two-bedroom suites are

connected with a common living space.

“We have, I think, a better retention rate in our halls that are

suites,” Durick said.

The new residence hall will feature suites where a one-bedroom

room and a two-bedroom room share a common living area. The new

rooms also have hard wired and wireless Ethernet access. To manage

these extra electricity demands the rooms have more power outlets

per room than other residence halls

The new residence hall will have similar amenities as all other

residence halls on our campus, according to Mary Ellen Sinnwell,

the Director of residence life, in an e-mail.

The hall facilities include a 24-hour desk, coin-op laundry

services, a kitchenette, vending machines and floor lounges.

While the building lacks a dining facility, student’s meal plans

may be used at any of the other residence halls on campus.

“The new hall is expected to be completed here in July, 2004; we

are currently ahead of schedule and under budget,” Sinnwell

said.