I appreciate the coverage the Daily is providing for Maple Hall, Hawthorn Court, the vegetarian food options and other Department of Residence activities and projects.

I know these issues are of interest to many residents and former residents of ISU residence halls. Although most of what was reported is accurate, there are a few exceptions that I would like to correct.

In the editorial, the writer states, “Also, all of the residents were pre-approved before being allowed to move into the hall. Some of the requirements included having a grade point average of at least 2.5, having no serious discipline record and having been involved in extra-curricular activities.”

The requirements you have listed applied only to upper-class students who wanted to live in Maple. Freshmen, who comprise 78 percent of the residents of Maple, had none of these requirements; they simply had to indicate on their preference card that they wanted to live in Maple Hall.

In fact, the freshmen who live in Maple are no different academically than residence hall freshmen overall. For those students for whom we had ACT scores and high school rank, the overall ACT mean score for Maple residents was 24.77 compared to 24.78 for all residence hall freshmen.

The high school rank of Maple freshmen was in the 77th percentile compared to the 78th percentile for residence hall freshmen overall.

The writer also states, “But when the Master Plan takes full effect and all residence halls are like the new and improved Maple Hall, who will want to live in them?”

In light of the overwhelming response we have had to Maple Hall, I suppose one answer would be: Lots of people! But in fact, all of the residence halls will never be like Maple even when the Master Plan takes full effect.

One of the primary concepts behind the Master Plan is that all students do not need or want the same kind of residence hall options. Maple was designed specifically for younger students, predominantly freshmen.

Hawthorn Court, currently under construction, is being designed for older students — juniors and above. The excellent article on the front page of this same edition of the Daily outlines some of the differences in these two halls. For example, in Hawthorn Court, decisions about having alcohol or guests will be determined by the residents of each apartment and each student will decide if they wish to purchase a meal plan.

Finally, I am confused by the question, “But what sort of image is the department projecting, making a residence hall seem more like a ‘popular item’ than a home away from home?” Why should we be concerned that what we have provided is popular and students like it? In fact, our goal is to provide residence halls that are popular options with our students — halls with amenities which students want in a living learning environment that contributes to student success.

If we succeed, students, who do have a choice about where they live, will choose to live in our residence halls.

Carrie Tett, in her article about Maple security asks, “Honestly, how many people are trying to break into the Maple computer labs to warrant jumbled keypads?”

The only location we have access through keypads is custodial and maintenance rooms. Student access to the computer labs, as well as the other common area rooms on their house, is through their access card.

This allows a reasonable level of security for expensive equipment and still gives residents 24-hour access to their computer lab.

Finally, I want to assure Maple residents and their guests that it is not possible to be trapped in a fire without an access card to get down the stairs. You do not need a card or a key of any type to exit any area of Maple Hall.

Randy Alexander

Director of Residence