Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Greek Village opens more houses despite setbacks BY KEVIN FELLNER TIIK IIAMECOCK Dozens of Greek students re turning to campus this week moved into recently completed and well-furnished houses in USC’s Greek Village, while others are still left stranded in hotels as the re sult of construc tion delays. As Chi Omegas, Delta Zetas, Kappa Deltas and Kappa Kappa Gammas heaved boxes, suitcases and ac cessories into their respective houses, some of which had been deemed finished just hours before, the Sigma Nu house* appeared quiet. But a con struction crew inside raced to add carpentry and paint en route to a com pletion estimated at two to three weeks away. meanwnue, the fraternity’s members settled into a hotel Friday at the expense of the builders. “We’re just happy to be in our house this year,” third-year fi nance student and Sigma Nu member Brooks Tucker said. “It’s just a minor inconvenience. Classes haven’t even started yet, and it’s just 10 days. We’re just happy to be moving in.” Coordinator for Greek Life Mason Reuter said there was no particular reason for the con struction delays. The Alpha Chi Omega and Delta Delta Delta sororities are dealing with the same situation. But for several students who have made the transition to the village from either McBryde or South Tower in previous years, the reaction is one of comfort. Or at least it will be once they have time to get settled. PHOTO BY TRISHA .SHADWELL/THE GAMECOCK Chi Omega sisters sit on the stoop of their new Greek house surrounded by construction. “Most of us are still living out of suitcases,” fourth-year public relations student and Delta Zeta vice president Katie Page said Tuesday during a brief break be tween sorority rush activities. “We just had so much to do to get ready for our fall recruitment.” Page and 31 other Delta Zetas practiced much of their rush ac tivities in a Holiday Inn, where they stayed for two days before their house was ready. The house still needed some finishing touch es this week, as sod was lain in the front yard Tuesday morning and cable TV and Internet access have yet to be installed. But Page said the first sight of the house’s inte rior was exciting. “Clean, pretty, new, nice. For me, it’s (about) location since I have most of my classes in the Coliseum,” Page said as her initial favorite aspects of the house. “Other perks are parking — it’s near the new Strom Thurmond Center, kind of tucked away. It’s not the hustle and bustle of cam pus.” Several students, seeing the houses for the first time, talked about how it was great to see the finished product after several years of blueprints and conceptual drawings. “It’s always nice to have some one come up to you and say ‘Your house looks nice,’” fourth-year English student and Kappa Alpha president Heath Stewart said. “The village is really growing now and there’s a real sense of com munity.” Others are impressed by some of the most spacious rooms on campus. “It’s actually better than I was thinking it would be,” Page said. “When you look at it on paper, you say ‘Oh, my bed room is only that big?’But the way it worked out with the way it’s built and put to gether, it really has a nice flow to it, it’s very easy to get around and just put to gether very nice ly.” Reuter said one of the nicest qualities of the houses is that they offer each ~ •fraternity or sorority its own residential com munity. Houses typically accom modate 36 to 40 residents and of fer dining areas with a full kitchen staff, a study, an office and at least one patio or terrace iui uuiuuui gaui erings. “They eat in the house; they meet in the house,” Reuter said. He also said nine sororities still have space in South Tower. No fra ternities currently occupy space in both the Greek Village and McBryde. As a result, he said, rush activities have been more consolidated in one location or the other this year. The final two houses for Alpha Delta Pi and Kappa Sigma are scheduled to open in January. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockndesk@hotmail.com Housing CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1 have had to stay in area hotels be cause there wasn’t enough room for them. As USC prepared to wel come the largest freshman class in school history—well over 3,000 students — Luna said Housing had to make adjustments to its freshmen dorms, which con tributed to the wait list of upper classmen. About 3,070 first-year students live on campus, a little less than half of all the spaces. Another factor was the de mand for apartments. The uni versity assigns housing by a very complex system using his torical percentages of on-campus students. Luna said that from a historical standpoint, between 12 and 14 percent of seniors live on campus. With 6,600 spaces of on-campus housing, between 12 and 14 percent of that is blocked off for seniors. The same rule ap plies to juniors and sophomores. “When demand shoots way up, it throws off your numbers, and you end up with waiting lists,” Luna said. Hark called the dilemma a “lose-lose” situation in that fresh men should be encouraged to get involved on campus and upper classmen should receive priority. “You can’t have a double stan dard,” he said. “You can’t get * them (freshmen) here and in volved on campus but then not provide them with the opportu nity to stay.” ► At issue is who receives prior ity in housing. When students register for housing, they rank their choices from highest to low est The computer, with regard to factors such as roommate selec tion and housing availability, gives out assignments automati cally. - Luna said last year juniors and seniors were on the same plane in terms of priority, which is why - some juniors got apartments while seniors were wait-listed. “We would consider going to a system that allows every senior to go wherever they wanted to go,” Luna said. “If we do that, it would have an effect on sopho mores and juniors. ” As Hark begins his term as ' president of the Residence Hall Association, he plans to en courage the association’s sen ate to come up with a proposal that would allow seniors to have priority but still maintain educational obligations to freshmen. “We are designed to speak for everyone who lives on campus,” Hark said. “If we can show we are doing that, it would be arrogant for housing to not listen to us.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com isam a r h \ ■ sa s 1 ~~ i * 1 THE GAMECOCK Need experience? Get some at The Gamecock this fall. The Gamecock needs copy editors, designers, writers and a public affairs director for the fall semester. To apply, visit the newsroom in Room 333 of the Russell House or call 777-7726. —-S-I-I-1