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Students abroad find dorm life quieter By ELIZABETH KELLER THE GAMECOCK GRENOBLE, France — With all its unknowns, studying abroad can be like freshman year all over again. Choosing between living on campus with a stranger or off campus with a commute can be difficult. Most study-abroad programs provide housing arrangements for students, but some provide more options than others. The EU Study Abroad Program, in which second-year economics and history student Austin Bersinger participates, allows students to choose among three different types of living situations: living with a host family, renting an apartment or staying in a dorm. “Living with a host family wasn’t appealing, because I felt like campus still embodies many qualities of dorm life, especially in apartment complexes geared toward college students. French students do not have such a housing option. “French students take on more responsibility when living in apartments and seem to have more respect for personal belongings,” Bersinger said. Fie shares his apartment with one college student as a roommate and one Frenchman in his early 30s. Bersinger’s two roommates still help him with his language skills, though he has moved into a dorm because of a personality conflict with one of them. At first glance, his French school’s residence halls resemble hospital buildings with ‘70s decor. “It’s better than the Towers, but still close to a jail cell,” Bersinger said. He said the main difference is not having a roommate, because all the rooms in his dorm are singles. The relaxed and quiet environment of French dorms contrasts with the typically boisterous freshman residence halls in the United States. Unlike the open-door policy in most American on-campus housing, the French students keep to themselves and only socialize in the hall kitchen. The dorms also use fewer security measures: locks, but no check-in desk. “There is less crime here, so I still feel safe,” Bersinger said. He recommends living in an apartment with students because “it offers the best blend of personal space an exposure to the language and culture.” Comments on this story? E-mail gameeocknewdSgwm.se. edit ■ ENERGY Continued from page 1 that require high-powered lighting and climate control. Prices for natural gas, which powers USC’s energy facilities, have been unstable during the last two years. USC’s estimated deferred maintenance costs — repair and improvement projects deemed not crucial, and therefore put on hold until more funds can be acquired — increased to more than $200 million at times during the last three years. More than 170 buildings constitute the Columbia campus and encompass nearly 10 million square feet. . While USC and Johnson Controls monitor the overhaul cooperatively, the College of Engineering and Information Technology is seeking to develop a strategy to reduce the university’s reliance on burning natural gas for steam production. Engineering professor Jeff Morehouse is seeking $16 million in funds generated by the savings from the energy overhaul to build a facility at the corner of Sumter and Whaley streets to convert a renewable resource to energy instead of increasingly scarce natural gas. The proposed process would heat wood refuse left: over from forestry projects in an oxygen-absent environment to release methane and other gases to be burned for steam without releasing additional carbon dioxide like natural gas does. This biomass strategy has become increasingly popular among environmentalists. At least three other universities use it already. “Our state does a tremendous amount of forestry business,” Morehouse said. “So we have a lot of this waste to be used.” Morehouse added that the facility could be used as a laboratory for students to perform temperature and pressure experiments to learn more about energy production and efficiency. “It’s definitely a hands-on project with an exciting new technology,” Morehouse said. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknnvs@gtrm.sc. edu ■ RHA Continued from page 1 “In Preston, our RAs in dorm government get along quite well, but in other dorms that’s not necessarily the case,” Stone said. Stone explained that he was RHA and asked if they would still be able to enjoy the same residence hall benefits under the new rules. “We assured them that they would,” Ledford said. “I think it was a very good idea just to show the RAs that we weren’t trying to separate ourselves from them like some of them thought we were,” Ledford said. “I think they would feel better about it knowing that we are still going to give them the privileges they deserve,” she said. The amendment passed 35-0. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews@givm.sc. edu ■ FRANCE Continued from page 1 French lifestyle but also were required to keep up with their school work, including keeping a journal in French. First-year chemical engineering student Peter Henry said everyone was having a good time despite the work involved. Having experienced life in the shoes of their French “key” pals, Lomicka’s students will prepare to show their French friends a South Carolinian lifestyle when they visit later in the spring. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknervs@gwm.sc. edu ■ DEAN Continued from page 1 “But what it needs to do is reinforce its position there so people are aware of all the opportunities here.” Although his vision has not changed, Rossi said the school is facing a set of new challenges after struggling with budget cuts when he first arrived. He said the school is in a much better financial situation than when he arrived — one that allows the school to look to the future. “The faculty has worked very hard to restructure the school to make sure we are in front financially,” Rossi said. “Our challenges today are financial in a different way. If we really want to be a great music institution we have to be willing to invest.” Rossi said he hopes the school will invest in students by offering more scholarships of greater value. He said another challenge is to provide a venue for 250 concerts a year, some of which are too big for the 200-seat recital hall, but too small for the 2,000-seat Roger Center. “Few concerts draw 2,000 people, and most concerts draw more than 200,” Rossi said. He said the school has a “real need” for a 750-seat concert hall, for which he did a feasibility study two years ago. He said a hall that large would not only benefit students and the university, but also regular concert attendees from around the community. “This is the logical place for it, because if you have a recital hall, a concert hall and the Koger Center all together, you really have a performing arts complex,” Rossi said. ine neea tor a concert hall might be great, Rossi said, but he has tried to focus on preparing students for the real world of music. “Regardless of what they wish to do with their degree, they have to be exceptional musicians,” Rossi said. “They must understand the whole breadth of music to really be educated musicians.” “I don’t think 1 have done anything new or novel, but I have focused on things that the school was already doing and improved those,” Rossi said. “I really think this can be an outstanding school of music.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknetvs@gurm.se. edu “jaded” at first by his inexperience dealing with other dorms. “I said ‘Why do we need this?’ and they said, ‘Well, there are many cases where the RAs don’t get along in hall government,”’ Stone said. First-year nursing student Brittani Ledford, RHA senator for LaBorde, said some RAs e-mailed I would be intruding, and I didn’t want to feel like 1 had to be home at certain hours,” Bersinger said. Even if the family environment isn’t for everyone, host families were carefully selected. Alexis Minkala, EU Study Abroad Program director, said she conducts background checks, meets potential host families and contacts previous residents before making final placement decisions. “Families are chosen for their willingness to act like ambassadors of France and to show the best of French culture to students,” Minkala said. Bersinger chose to live in an apartment with French students, an option he said he was more comfortable with. “I wanted ample space for cooking, relaxing and watching TV, and to have access to the Internet,” Bersinger said. In the United States, living off IYOUMATEMN^l SOLUTIONU! I r——I I -^TTil l I I l I \ k i GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT DAT OAT PCAT TOEFL Receive a *100 rebate when you enroll in a Kaplan course between March 1 and March 31. Limited time offer! Call or visit us online for more information or to enroll. il 1-800-KAP-TEST r kaptest.com/rebate Test Prep and Admissions •Test names are registered trademarks or thee respective owners. • *Corx#tkms and restrictions apply. For complete guarantee aHfbiti1 requirements, visa kaowst.cwt/hsg. The Wtfmr Score Guarantee applies only to Kaplan fort Prep and Admissions courses taken end completed w*Nn P*e United Slates end Canada. The Ntfier Score Guarantee does not apply to PCAT and TO6FI courses tRebett restrictions apply. 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