Editor’s Note: This article is the second of a four-part series on residence hall life.

The residence halls at Iowa State provide many services and conveniences for students who choose to live in them.

Steve Medanic, a service desk representative for the Department of Residence, said the department’s goal is to help students adjust to college life away from home.

“We do what we can to make them feel more comfortable; we want to make them feel more at home,” he said.

The services go beyond providing each student with a desk and chair in his or her room, according to the Department of Residence Web page.

Every room is equipped with computer data access to the Information Systems Network (ISN), has cable television access and a telephone with discounted long distance service.

Students living in residence halls also can frequent the convenience stores located in Friley, the Wallace-Wilson commons and the Maple-Willow-Larch commons. The stores provide students with a place to purchase items they may have forgotten, said Patricia Roberton, coordinator of academic services for the Department of Residence.

“The students can get pizza, ice, pop or even school supplies in their building at all hours of the day,” Roberton said. “The hallways are filled with the smell of home-baked cookies every day as the stores are providing fresh snacks for the students.”

Roberton said there are also a variety of different employment opportunities for students who live in the residence halls.

“Obviously, there is a large number of jobs in the many dining facilities in each residence hall, but there is also office jobs and custodial jobs,” Roberton said. “Another benefit is that dorm residents will be considered first for a job; they live right there, so they are an obvious choice,” he added.

Maria McKean, sophomore in dietetics and resident of Willow Hall, works at the hall desk in the M-W-L commons.

“It’s really nice to work at the dorms because it’s so close and you meet people who are living with you,” she said.

McKean also said the hall desk allows students to check out various types of useful equipment, including tools, videos, athletic equipment, board games and office supplies.

“It’s really convenient,” McKean said. “We have tools and things that most college students don’t normally pack up and bring to school.”

All residence associations provide these services at the hall desks.

Students can also be employed by the Department of Residence as a resident assistant.

“I love it tremendously,” said Steve Blum, junior in pre-dentistry and resident assistant in Willow. “I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”

Blum feels the dorms are a great place for students to live, especially underclassmen.