Iowa State University became a little more co-ed this year.

Upon request from the ISU honors program to create more honors housing, Anders House in Barton Hall became a co-ed honors house this fall.

“They requested an increase in the number of male and an increase in the number of female spaces,” said Sally Deters, residence life coordinator for the Richardson Court Association.

Because there have been no problems in the past filling contract spaces for honor students’ housing, Deters said, “We decided to take a small house and add a floor of males and a floor of females that would come close to what they wanted number-wise.”

The change, however, did not come without a few minor difficulties.

“When I got here initially they weren’t going to let me into my room because they thought it was still a female dorm,” said freshman Mark Knight, who arrived a day prior to the scheduled check-in date. “They were all puzzled, and they checked their list and the list said that it was co-ed.”

The first male to ever live in Barton Hall was junior Anthony Usera, the resident assistant for Anders house, who moved in Aug. 14.

Usera’s first “innovation” in Barton was to put tape over the “wo” in “women” on the bathroom doors of the male floor. “I wouldn’t want to go in there some day with some female in there because it said women on the door,” Usera said.

One of the house inequalities that particularly upset some of the females is the bathroom dispersement. The women all share one bathroom, with 23 females using four sinks, two showers, one bathtub and four toilets.

On the other hand, there is one sink per every three males in the hall.

Another change Usera made in regular co-ed living was insistence upon male and female co-chairs for major cabinet positions.

Usera based this decision upon his prior experience with co-ed living. When he lived in Linden, there was one female in his house. “That was the first time I felt true sexism,” Usera said. “Heidi’s voice was drowned out at house meetings.” He wanted to change that at Barton.

“I think it brings a lot more perspective to decision making in the cabinet,” said sophomore Sarah Williams, co-president of Anders. “It’s nice to have someone else to…share responsibility with.”

While one freshman woman mentioned some embarrassment with finding stray guys or womens underwear in the laundry room, she said she enjoys co-ed living.

Two couples from last year’s co-ed honors students’ house, Harwood House, are even engaged now, said Williams, who lived on Harwood last year.

There are currently 15 co-ed houses at ISU, four in Towers Residence Association, eight in Richardson Court Association and three in the Union Drive Association.