Barrows waits for bulldozers

Barrows traditionally has been viewed as a noisy dorm, but next year's rowdy first-years may be competing with the year-long racket of nearby bulldozers.

Members of the Housing and Dining Committee voted Monday to recommend to College administrators that Barrows remain the College's first-year dorm despite suggestions that it be moved to Noah or Dascomb Halls so first-years wouldn't be overwhelmed by the construction noise.

With the south end of Barrows slated to be demolished this summer to make way for the College's new Science Center, thereby eliminating 52 beds, both Residential Life and Services staff members and students have been debating the fate of the first-year dorm for some time.

"A concern of mine was the idea that first-year students are going to be put in this dorm and may not be aware of how insane the noise is going to be," first-year student senator Chris Anton, a voting member of the committee, said.

"It's not an easy decision," Assistant Manager of Housing and Dining Sandra Hougland said, but added that first-years would hear the noise of the bulldozers no matter where on north campus the first-year dorm was located. "The construction will be problematic for the next few years. People will have to deal with construction during the day, but in the long-term the Science Center will have great overall benefits."

Committee members vetoed the idea of moving the first-year hall to Noah primarily because Noah has no central lounge and too many single rooms to be amenable to the first-year dorm experience. While Dascomb ran a close race with Barrows, members ultimately voted against it too.

"I feel fairly strongly that Dascomb wouldn't be a good first-year dorm," Hougland said, citing its large size as one factor in her decision to vote against it. "Without super-singles you have 180 spaces to fill. We don't have 180 people who want to live in a first-year dorm."

Another problem with Dascomb is that first-year students theoretically would be living and eating in the same space, isolating them from the larger campus community, according to Hougland. In addition, Dascomb is one of the few traditional south campus dorms, along with Talcott, Fairchild and South Halls.

"We really need to be increasing, not decreasing, non-program houses on that half of campus," Hougland said.

With $250,000 allocated to Residential Life and Services for summer dorm renovations, Committee members ultimately decided it would be most practical to spend a considerable amount of that money on sprucing up Barrows, in part making up to first-year residents for the construction noise.

"That way, the College doesn't have to spend money on both renovating a new first-year dorm and making Barrows more livable for upperclassmen," Anton said.

The location decision is not final yet, as it still needs to pass the Student Life Committee and the General Faculty, but Hougland said plans are already in the works for summer renovations to Barrows. "We're going to paint it and get some new furniture for the lounges, and update the kitchenettes," she said.

LGBT program hall approved

Housing and Dining Committee members unanimously passed a proposal this week for a Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender program hall.

Proposed by juniors Alexis Eastman and Alex Kwanten, the program hall would convert one section of an unspecified dorm into a residence for LGBT students.

Committee members expressed concern about creating a new program house when the College's existing ones are almost never filled to capacity. While the original proposal requested 30 to 35 beds to be set aside for the program hall, Eastman amended the number to 20 beds to ensure that there would be no problem filling them with applicants for the program.

"We're willing to start small and add people at the end if that's a necessity," Eastman said.

The LGBT program hall proposal will go before the SLC at its meeting March 11. If passed by the SLC and the GF, the program hall will be in place for interested students next year. Hougland said she and the rest of the Residential Life and Services staff will make the final decision about location, consulting with the proposal's authors.