Monday, in Sara Ziegler’s weekly column, she said, “Some students, especially those that live there, loved the privacy and the extra space.”

There is no extra space in Maple Hall. Each bedroom lost over five square feet. The houses lost at least four square feet in the lounge area – not including space taken out for the kitchen or the space taken out between the elevators for fire doors.

The fact is that in order to give Maple the facilities that the students on campus asked for (like the sink, the computer lab, study room and kitchen), space for the house and for individuals had to go. We lost two bedrooms for the computer lab and study rooms. The only thing we did not lose space for was the bathroom and shower area, and in fact, they were able to increase the number of bathrooms and showers from the way it was before the renovation.

Ziegler also said “… the design of Maple Hall, with semi-private bathrooms and kitchens on every floor, destroys the sense of community that is necessary in a dorm. The things that students complain about every day — food service, bathrooms down the hall, small rooms — are the things that unite us and build community within a floor.”

First of all, there is more to building a community than complaining about food service, sharing the bathrooms and the room size. Trust us, we also complain about food service, sharing the bathrooms and the room size.

There are other things we could complain about too, like the “debugging” process that does take place whenever a new or renovated building is opened or the fact that the Daily doesn’t give us unbiased coverage or the fact that some of the things other dorms may take for granted are things that Maple has not been been able to do because of circumstances beyond the control of the university or the fact that nobody came to our open hall night.

Instead, we like to praise the fact that we have more staff — the Academic Resource Coordinator and the Peer Mentor — who help us form study groups by compiling lists of classes for everyone on the floor and make information about tutoring and study tips available. The university is, after all, a place to learn and to succeed; Maple is aimed at helping freshmen and transfer students succeed during that all-important first year.

The community in Maple Hall is thriving. Programs like Maple Madness encourage houses to get good grades, to become involved in campus organizations, to go to cultural events, to visit with our Hall Director during the day, to go do things as a house, etc.

The houses, too, can note a better community. Some of the residents of Maple are former residents, others have lived elsewhere in the university; we, more than others, are able to see the differences in the house. For instance, the Hayden House meetings usually see more than half of the house in attendance. Our doors are constantly open. Hayden does many, many things together like caroling, intramural sports, going to Iowa State sporting events, trick or treating, cookie decorating, movie nights, pizza parties, card game nights, community service, studying and much more.

Despite protestations by the Daily, Maple Hall is succeeding at what it was meant to do: helping incoming students adjust to Iowa State, helping all students succeed academically and socially helping students become involved in the university and in Ames and building a positive community for the residents.

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Katherine Rasing

Senior

Mechanical engineering and

mathematics

Vice President, Hayden House, Maple Hall

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Marianne Kirkendall

Freshman

Dairy science and pre-veterinary

Steering Committee, Hayden House, Maple Hall

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Katherine VanWeelden

Freshman

Management information systems

IM Chair, Hayden House,

Maple Hall