New upgrades at ASU

The new year is one week underway, and students will have a lot to look forward to. New educational spaces, recreational spaces and students are already enjoying new living spaces.

New Apartments

Like Collegiate Park, the apartments come with a full kitchen, living room, and extra sinks outside the bathroom, but students living in the Red Wolves Den, will also enjoy a dishwasher, garbage disposal, ice maker in the refrigerator, a leather couch and full-size beds.

"I love the dishwasher, and full-size bed," said Kristen Richmond, a junior radiology sciences major from Etowah.

The three building complex is made to hold 189 students, and has reached its limit.

Richmond said she couldn't pass up the chance to live in a new building.

"I wanted something new, nice and different," Richmond said. "The walk to class is bad, but the good out ways the bad."

Beside the walk what else could be considered bad about living in the Red Wolves Den?

Construction on the commons building for the complex isn't complete, so students have to share laundry facilities with North Park Quads residents.

According to Residence Life, the commons building should be completed by Sept. 15.

Also, with continued construction students track dirt into their new apartments.

"I've swept five times today," Richmond said.

And what could be one of the bigger downsides to the apartments, are the doorbells, a loud, piercing siren-like buzzer that rings throughout the entire apartment.

"I don't know how many times people have hit it and ran," Richmond said. "And you can't turn it off."

But, these are minor nuisances that the energy efficient light bulbs, large vanity, modern shower heads, and large kitchen cabinets, make up for easily.

New Honors Dorms

Students moving into the new honors living-learning community Saturday were pleased to find rooms with full-size beds and new living quarters.

"The full beds were the deal breaker between staying in the quads and moving in here," said Shelby Elledge, a sophomore graphic design major from Pocahontas.

Freshmen were excited about having the opportunity to move into rooms that hadn't been lived in before.

"I was impressed with staying in a new building with new stuff and no graffiti," said Rachel Carner, a freshman journalism major from Jonesboro. "I'm excited about living here."

Rebecca Oliver, director of student services for the Honors College, said the complex was built to house 219 honors students and that the complex is currently mostly full.

There are 87 single bedrooms reserved for upperclassmen. Two upperclassmen will share one bathroom. Freshmen will live in 132 double-occupancy rooms. Freshmen rooms will have twin size beds.

Students living in the honors complex will also enjoy going to class in a standalone building right next door at the soon-to-be "smart classrooms."

Although equipment, such as smart boards and projectors, had not arrived as of Tuesday afternoon, Oliver said they should arrive by the end of the week or early next week.

With the fall semester beginning on Monday, many students, including freshmen, began their transition to college life with Operation Move In.

Operation Move In was on Saturday and was a way to help students get moved back into their assigned homes efficiently and safely.

For many freshmen, the new school year is much more than class and studying, it is an opportunity to meet new people and to experience life on their own for the first time.

Anna Long, a freshmen undecided major from Portageville, Mo., said that she was most excited about meeting new people, joining a sorority and just college life in general.

"I want to have a good time while I'm here, but I also want to succeed and not let anything get to me," Long said.

Long is moving into University Hall and this is the first time away from home, other than summer visits to her sister's in Georgia or basketball camps at other universities.

"I'm nervous but I'm very excited about being away from home, plus I know my roommate, we went to school 15 minutes away from each other," Long said.

Freshmen will also have to depend on the help of upperclassmen and other friends to help them navigate their away around campus the first days of class, since many are not as familiar with the campus.

"I'm very nervous about finding my way around campus," Long said, "but me and my roommate know a girl from here who is going to show us around because I've really only been to one football game here."

Part of the appeal of ASU is the fact that it can be close to home, which is a reason many freshmen choose ASU as their destination for higher education.

"ASU is close to home," Long said. "It's not too close but it's not too far. I looked at other school but I just wanted to go to go here."