Summers in the residence halls can be either boring or a blessing, depending on who you ask.

Ryan Anderson, a junior in animal ecology from Marshalltown, lives in Friley Hall year-round but said dorm life in the summer is a drag.

“It’s boring. The floors don’t interact like they do in the fall and spring. Everyone is not as close-knit,” Anderson said.

The second floor is the only one in Friley that remains open to Iowa State undergraduates in the summer. The floor is home to 361 students who attend summer school.

Anderson said he normally lives on the fifth floor and the worst thing about staying in the dorms over the summer, he said, was having to move down to the second floor. “It was a hassle. On moving day, I waited around for about eight hours in my room to be assigned another room.”

Anderson said he is glad the dorms stay open to give those who can’t go home a place to stay. He said, however, he wishes people would be more friendly and not keep to themselves as much as they do.

“It’s too quiet. I usually stay out of my room from noon to 2 a.m. looking for something to do,” he said.

Teresa Thomas said she appreciates a quiet dorm. Thomas, a graduate student in journalism and mass communication from Birmingham, Ala., lives in Buchanan Hall. She said she enjoys the summer dorm atmosphere.

“I like the dorms better in the summer because they are more peaceful and I can get more accomplished,” she said.

Thomas said the dorm staff is more cheerful and laid back. She said they are also more lenient with kitchenette privileges. The kitchenettes are open in the summer without the payment of fees which are required during the fall and spring semesters.

This is the first summer Thomas has spent in Iowa. A native of the south, she said she is accustomed to hot summer weather, but she didn’t expect it to be as hot here.

“I thought it would be a little cooler,” she said.