Mustang Daily Housing Fair 2013

Da i l Pres n a t en t s u M

Fair February 21, 2013

A Mustang Daily AdvertISING DOCUMENT

Mustang Daily | 3

IN THIS ISSUE 5

Learn to share ... some things. What is cool to share with your roommates and what’s not?

Cal Poly students share their sharing habits.

8

PRof homes Ever wondered where professors hang their hats? The answer could surprise you.

9

stay trashy San Luis Obispo garbage pickup prices are on the rise, leaving some students with less money in their pockets.

11

That’s weird Keep the furniture off the roof — an explanation of SLO’s weird housing laws.

12

in the garden Stafford Gardens is home to many students, and one Mustang Daily photographer. Check out his photo essay here.

18

Oh the horror Students share their roommate horror stories.

25

blast from the past:

Before Poly Canyon Village was the housing complex it is today, it was an actual canyon, complete with a student squatter. In 1990, then-student Jason Green was living in a tent in the canyon, because he couldn’t afford housing. “It was kind of hard to date you know,” he said in a Jan. 10, 1990 Mustang Daily article. For pictures of Poly Canyon Village today, go to pg. 20.

Trust us, we know Mustang Daily staff members dish on the top rules for peaceful living in Get to know your neighbors

Don’t forget your laundry

Let the little things go with your roommates

Always make sure there’s enough toilet paper

Save hot water for your roommates

Turn off your freakin’ alarm!

Divide up chores

Get your own room

Invite your neighbors to your late night parties

No line dancing when you live on the second floor

Mustang homes Cal Poly athletes stick together through housing thick and thin.

4 | Mustang Daily

We’re not the only ones in SLO Amanda Margozzi amandamargozzi.md@gmail.com Cal Poly students are also a member of the San Luis Obispo community.

It is easy for students to associate themselves as Cal Poly Mustangs, but they are a part of a population that extends farther than just the Cal Poly campus.

Graduate student Blanca Lopez said she never saw herself as separate from the community.

“Whether I go downtown for Farmers’ Market or if I go to other city events, I always feel like a member of the San Luis Obispo community,” Lopez said. “I attend multicultural events here that make me feel like a part of the community.”

As students, we have to maintain a level of respect for our surroundings, Lopez said.

“There shouldn’t be a surprise if there is noise and partying going on though,” she said. “People in the community cannot pretend that there isn’t a campus here; they should be aware that they live where there is a lot of traffic and noise that comes with living by a college campus.”

Mechanical engineering freshman Jeron Hogan said he also considers himself a member of the San Luis Obispo community.

“Everywhere you go, people are welcoming of students, people seem excited for new students,” Hogan said.

Since this is a college town, the noise levels are going to be high, especially on weekends, he said.

“It’s us exploring our freedom in a somewhat wild manner,” Hogan said.

“But we should show respect to those around us no matter what.”

Hogan had an idea of his own to provide a balance between the wants of students and community members in San Luis Obispo.

“Maybe there could be some sort of law so students and community members could come to an agreement, like a certain music decibel level on specific nights of the week,” he said.

Students feel welcomed by San Luis Obispo, but some community members may be concerned with the choice of college students’ lifestyles.

San Luis Obispo Public Works Director Daryl Grigsby said members of the community are concerned about the students’ impact on the quality of life of the city.

“The dichotomy that a lot of us feel is that this generation parties more than previous ones,” Grigsby said. “We forget that we used to

party too. Students are young and having fun and that shouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.”

If students could see themselves as a part of the community, it would be beneficial, Grigsby said.

“Students are part of the community in more ways than they realize,” Grigsby If students would take that extra step to be a good neighbor, he said, it would help people in the community see a good side to the college population.

“Look at all the benefits the Cal Poly student population has on the city,” he said. “Community members need to realize that San Luis Obispo wouldn’t be the same without Cal Poly; students bring a youthful energy that makes the town more vibrant.”

One specific example is our transit system. The bus system see HOUSING, pg. 5

HOUSING continued from page 4

wouldn’t be possible without the students of San Luis Obispo, he said.

“San Luis Obispo without Cal Poly wouldn’t be the same and Cal Poly without San Luis Obispo wouldn’t be the same,” Grigsby said.

Mustang Daily | 5

what’s ok to share with your roommates?

“Anything, as long as they ask first.”

— Chris Hunsdorfer, biological sciences freshman

“I’d probably say more material things like clothes or jewelry.”

— Isabel Baraja, foodscience freshman

What’s not ok to share? “(My roomates and I) are all different sizes, so clothes.”

— Lauren Szabo, animal science junior

“Food without asking.”

— Matt Theis, forestry and natural resources junior

8 | Mustang Daily

the Bella montaña view

Sara Natividad/Mustang Daily

Professors need a place to live too, and for many Cal Poly faculty, that place is just down the road at Bella Montaña.

Sara Natividad snatividad@mustangdaily.net Home is where the heart is, and for several Cal Poly faculty and staff members, the heart rests in a local complex aimed directly at housing university employees.

Bella Montaña, a Cal Poly housing community, has been home to faculty and staff for more than five years now. During that time, its location just across the street from the campus entrance on Highland Drive has made the community a convenient place for Cal Poly employees to hang their hats.

The community has homes for rent and sale with 10 different floor plans. Of the 69 homes, only three of them are currently available on the market, Cal Poly Corporation Associate Vice President of Commercial Services

Bonnie Murphy said.

Though the community has served Cal Poly faculty and staff for five years, Murphy said there have been relatively few changes, to her knowledge. The community is under the management of a homeowners’ association and the Cal Poly Corporation is not involved with any changes within the development.

“Bella Montaña is a faculty and staff development; however, faculty will always have first priority when homes are available,” Murphy said. “It is not difficult for faculty to get a home in the Bella Montaña community.”

Staff member Sarah Levanway — a sign language interpreter and transcriber at Cal Poly — did not encounter any difficulties qualifying to be a community resident, she said.

Levanway moved into Bella Montaña in October, and has

“It is not difficult for faculty to get a home in the Bella Montaña community.”

— Bonnie Murphy, Cal Poly Corporation associate vice president of commercial services

thoroughly enjoyed the change to a community-based environment, she said.

“It’s really nice that we have a chance to get to know our neighbors, and that so many of them have kids,” she said. “There are lots of new playmates for my girls to play with.”

Another positive aspect of Bella Montaña is that the cost of living is very affordable, Levanway said.

“We are able to afford our own home for less than what it costs us to rent,” she said.

The opinion on the prices of Bella Montaña differs among residents, though. The price is relatively equal compared to similar housing in San Luis Obispo, English associate professor Paul Stegner said. Stegner has lived in Bella Montaña for four years now, and hasn’t noticed any changes see BELLA, pg. 10

Mustang Daily | 9

SLO GARBAGE PRICES INCREASE

Anna Hornell/Mustang Daily

Mustang Daily Staff Report news@mustangdaily.net Students paying for their own garbage pickup will soon have fewer cents to spare, as the San Luis Obispo City Council voted in January to increase pickup rates starting this month.

San Luis Garbage Co. requested the 3.4 percent increase because of higher fuel and tire costs as well as labor and health insurance costs. In addition, the company cited a loss in revenue because of customers downsizing from larger trash cans to smaller ones.

“It means that people are doing a better job at avoiding packaging,” San Luis Obispo Mayor Jan Marx said of the numbers. “And the ban on single-use plastic and paper bags has probably contributed to less going to the landfill.”

Because it takes the same amount of work and gasoline to pick up the cheaper, smaller

trash cans, the garbage company sought compensation in order to maintain its profit margin though, Marx said.

“To me, it sounds a bit bizarre,” graphic communication junior Aly Facha said. “In my major, we spend a lot of time talking about sustainable packaging, and if we’re just going to be paying more for less trash, then what’s the point of being sustainable?”

The increase in monthly costs ranges from 27 cents for households using 20-gallon mini trashcans, to $1.31 for households using large, 96-gallon trashcans.

The council’s decision also means San Luis Garbage Co. will continue to dump green waste — biodegradable items such as food and garden waste — onto the Cold Canyon Landfill south of the city, in lieu of a compost recycling facility.

“It’s kind of a Band-Aid solution,” Marx said, “but the council has made it clear to the garbage see GARBAGE, pg. 10

10 | Mustang Daily

BELLA

ly walks or drives, but recently bought a bicycle for commuting, she said. continued from page 8 In addition to a prime loin the community since living cation, another benefit is the there, he said. overall layout of the homes.

The overall prices have in- According to Levanway, the creased, but the rent has not complex is very open and increased much since he has makes a good use of space. lived there, he said.

One of her windows overlooks “I definitely like it much Bishop Peak and her other better than where I was living window looks out into the cenbefore,” Stegner said. “Mainly ter of the complex. because of the convenience “It’s a great way to meet and the quiet environment. We new neighbors and watch over used to live next to students my children,” she said. “One who liked to party quite a bit.” of the best things about being Because of the complex’s here is the neighbors are really proximity to campus, Stegner friendly, more so than other commutes to campus by walk- places I have lived in town. We ing, biking or driving, depend- all have something in common ing on the weather and the — a shared interest in Cal Poly time of day, he said.

— and that’s a really nice way Levanway also likes how the to meet people.” proximity gives her the chance to have different means to get This article was originally pubto school, she said. She usual- lished in Mustang Daily on Jan. 23.

GARBAGE continued from page 9

and Templeton, but a city staff report advised against it.

“When we calculated the carbon footprint and the financial aspects of trucking the waste that far, we didn’t feel it would be worth it in the end,” Marx said.

However, a yet-to-be-passed state measure, as well as ongoing issues at the landfill, are threatening to shut the practice down within the next 18 months to two years, according to city conservation manager Ron Munds.

The city is therefore looking for a local solution to recycle green waste, he said.

“This could be a business opportunity for someone to create something sustainable and really useful to the community,” Marx said.

company that we don’t want to see this go on indefinitely.”

The city closed its composting facility at the landfill in 2011 because of odor complaints from neighbors, and allowed the green waste to be kept at the landfill for one year while awaiting a better solution.

“Our understanding at the time was that the garbage company was to build an enclosed green waste facility instead,” Marx said. “The optimum would be to have it composted on the site, so it could enrich the soil locally.”

Such plans have yet to become reality, and the garbage company was granted a second Anna Hornell contributed to this year of taking green waste to the staff report. landfill. The alternative would be driving to the closest composting This article was originally published facilities, located in Santa Maria in Mustang Daily on Jan. 28.

Mustang Daily | 11

no furniture on the roof Amanda Margozzi amandamargozzi.md@gmail.com Though students living off campus may grumble that San Luis Obispo’s housing ordinances are too strict and unusual, city officials promote them for more than beautification reasons.

Neighborhood services specialist for the city of San Luis Obispo Wyndee Galvan said safety is the motive behind most ordinances.

Having couches, recliners or

other furniture on a front yard, porch or roof is a fire hazard, Galvan said.

“There was an incident in the past involving students who had a sofa on their front lawn,” Galvan said.

“Someone threw their cigarette on it during a party and a whole house on Johnson (Avenue) burned down because of it. These housing ordinances got started from past problems.”

In 2012, the city became more proactive in implementing a neighborhood wellness program.

S o m e stronger parking permits are now enforced as well as front yard mainte-

Having furniture on a front yard, porch or roof is a fire hazard.

nance rules.

Vehicles cannot be parked on the front lawn or outside of approved parking spaces and it is illegal to park diagonally in a driveway to fit more cars. Weeds should not grow taller than 12 inches and waste containers must be screened from public view by a fence, wall or landscaping that conforms to zoning and building codes.

Cassia Cocina was hired this past year as code enforcement for the city of San Luis Obispo. She deals with sub-standard housing situations, such as people living in the garage and unhealthy ventilation issues with water heaters.

“Students thinking about living off campus should do as much homework as they can before they move in,” Cocina said. “Read

through everything in a year-long lease to make sure of what you are getting yourself into.”

There is a general process for code enforcement that begins with a field correction notice that is issued to a property owner. The property owner is given 10 days to either correct the violation or appeal. If no action is taken within 10 days, an automatic citation starting at $50 is issued. For every 10 days after the original notice was given and no action is taken, the citation goes up by at least an additional $50 each time.

“We want students to know what to look for and to be able to protect themselves from getting citations,” Galvan said.

see FURNITURE, pg. 14

12 | Mustang Daily

plant yourself in the garden

Stafford Gardens apartments are located at 1377 Stafford St. in San Luis Obispo.

photos by David Jang

Stafford Gardens offers both oneand two-bedroom townhomes.

Renters have the option of furnished or unfurnished homes.

Amenities include free basic cable, free parking, dishwashers and garbage disposals.

The complex also includes private patios and a social courtyard.

MCNAMARA 4123

WORD ON THE STREET What’s in your refrigerator?

FURNITURE continued from page 11

Christine Wallace, neighborhood outreach manager for the San Luis Obispo Police Department, plans to attend the Mustang Daily Housing Fair to educate students about noise violations.

A noise violation can cost up to $1,000.

“Carrots, string cheese, Reese’s peanut butter cups and Gatorade.”

• Alex Barzilai modern languages and literatures freshman

“Half of an onion, half of a bell pepper.”

• Tim Fitzgerald aerospace engineering junior

“I think I have a lot of water bottles.”

• Gaby Costas liberal studies freshman

“My job is to help get educational information out to students specific to noise when they move off campus so they can be smart about gatherings,” Wallace said.

She said to keep gatherings small and manageable to avoid having Student Neighborhood Assistance Program (SNAP) members or police officers come to the door.

Students should also be aware of who their neighbors are and if they are non-students.

Cell phone numbers should be exchanged so that neighbors can give students a warning before calling the cops.

Noise ordinances are enforced all hours of the day; however, it is best to be especially mindful between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. A first citation for a noise violation costs $350, a second citation costs $700 and the third or any subsequent citation costs $1,000.

“A lot of the time, noise tickets are also given to landlords and it is usually in the lease that the landlord will not cover the cost of the ticket,” Wallace said. “This means that you will also have to pay the landlord’s ticket, so you are paying double whatever your fine is.”

Wallace and other city officials also present their information during the Week of Welcome in the UU Plaza, IFC Panhellenic events and the Poly Canyon Housing Fair. Wallace said she also puts advertisements in Mustang Daily and New Times around Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day since there are double fines around those holidays.

Mustang Daily | 15

Student advice: Living on or off campus

PROS On campus

“Being able to meet new people.”

CONS On campus

• Alex Coffman kinesiology junior

Off campus

“No regulation.”

• Blake Mickle construction management junior

“I still live with my family, so see(ing) them every day.”

• Tiffany Rios microbiology sophomore

“There’s a lot of regulations.”

• Alex Early food science junior

Off campus

“Being far away.”

• Blake Mickle construction management junior

“Maybe not getting the full college experience.”

• Tiffany Rios microbiology sophomore

18 | Mustang Daily

True life: my roommate sucks Ashley DeVriend ashleydevriend.md@gmail.com Already halfway through the school year, it is time to start planning for next year’s living situation.

The location is the first step.

There is Poly Canyon Village on campus or you can choose to live off campus. The second step is the type of housing — apartments, condominiums or a house are different options. The cost of rent and deciding how many roommates to live with is the last step in your decision process.

The search is on, not only for the perfect place, but for the perfect roommates as well. Roommates can make or break a living situation. Whether you get stuck

with a stranger in the dorms or you just choose the wrong roommate, we have all heard horrifying stories.

Hopefully you aren’t the one who has a story of your own to tell.

There’s the roommate who doesn’t shower, the roommate who never leaves and the classic roommate who sexiles you on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, traumatizing roommate stories aren’t difficult to find. Cal Poly students share their own roommate stories.

Psychology senior Christine Warren has a unique story of her roommate situation dating back to her freshman year.

“My freshman roommate was dating a 16-year-old from her high school around the end of fall quarter,” Warren said. “By the end of

“She proceeded to make her own wedding dress spring quarter and left it hanging in our room the whole time.”

— Christine Warren, psychology senior

winter quarter she was engaged.

She proceeded to make her own wedding dress spring quarter and left it hanging in our room the whole time. That was fun to explain to guests.”

TOWNHOMES & APARTMENTS

Environmental management and protection sophomore Zach Parea didn’t have a roommate who was making a wedding dress, but

see ROOMMATE, pg. 19

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1 Bed / 1 Bath Townhomes 1 or 2 people, $950 / month

Mustang Daily | 19 he does have a story of his own from the dorms.

“One of my roommates last year used to sleep talk,” Parea said.

“Every time I would come home at night he would be asleep and just say some random assortment of words that typically didn’t make sense. He would say things like ‘did they explode?’ and ask if the dragons were still around. One night he proclaimed his love of sushi and asked me for lettuce paper.”

Business administration sophomore Marina Plemons had a different roommate situation when she was a freshman.

“I had a foreign roommate in the dorms,” Plemons said. “She didn’t speak English, didn’t do laundry once and our RA had to come talk to me about cleaning our room because he could smell her from the common room. It was terrible.”

Architecture sophomore Kendra Gartrell has a roommate story of a different nature.

“One night, I was asleep when I woke up to my bunk bed shaking and my first thought was that there was an earthquake,” Gartrell said. “A few seconds later, I realized this was no earthquake, this was my roommate having sex with some guy she brought home from a party. Some weeks later, my other roommate and I woke up to my drunk roommate having sex right above me again. That time I decided enough was enough and I simply got out of bed and left the room. We never talked about it, but my roommate never brought a guy back after that.”

There are awkward, funny and smelly roommate situations potentially lurking in the future. It is best to avoid these situations by planning early and choosing a roommate who will be comfortable to live with. Before it’s time to move in, it is a good idea to go over certain roommate agreements in order to be on the same page as one another.

WORD ON THE STREET How have you made your house a home?

“I put up artwork and postcards from places I’ve been to.”

• Amanda Steigerwalt business administration junior

“There’s nothing personalized, no decorations. Nothing really changed.”

• Jorge Garcia mechanical engineering freshman

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TOWNHOMES Balcony off living room and 1 bedroom

1 Bed / 1 Bath Studio

1 or 2 people, $750 / month

1 Bed / 1 Bath

1 or 2 people, $875 / month

2 Bed / 1 Bath

1 or 2 people, $1125 / month

2 Bed / 2 Bath 1 or 2 people, $1275 / month 3 or 4 people, $1400 / month

2 Bed / 2.5 Bath

Includes 2 Balconies 1 or 2 people, $1375 / month 3 or 4 people, $1500 / month

20 | Mustang Daily

ENTER THE CANYON Poly Canyon Village, opened in 2008, is the newest member of Cal Poly’s housing family.

Take a tour of the apartment development that approximately 2,700 students call home.

Photos by Ian Billings

Mustang Daily | 21 In 2011, Poly Canyon Village was awarded “Best New Development: On-Campus� by the Student Housing Business Magazine.

22 | Mustang Daily The apartments are fully furnished throughout the living room and bedrooms.

Apartments feature full kitchens including a refrigerator, microwave, oven and stove.

Poly Canyon Village is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certified complex. This is the third-highest level of environmental friendliness as designated by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Almost every building offers a laundry room with several cardoperated washers and dryers.

We’re Connected.

Are You? FIND US ONLINE facebook.com/mustangdaily twitter.com/mustangdaily youtube.com/mustangdaily flickr.com/mustangdaily

Most floors of the apartment buildings feature study rooms, open 24/7.

MustangDaily.net

24 | Mustang Daily

ILLUSTRATION BY JOSEPH CORRAL

Mustang Daily | 25

STudent-athletes stick together Stephan Teodosescu steodosescu@mustangdaily.net From practice to team dinners to traveling for away contests and gameday, Cal Poly student-athletes spend an immeasurable amount of time with their fellow teammates.

So it’s no wonder that when it comes to housing, one might find the Mustangs living in close quarters too.

Ranging from one’s true freshman season to his or her redshirt senior year, Cal Poly athletes are often surrounded by teammates and other student-athletes even when that “athlete” moniker takes a back seat to the “student” one.

Reese Morgan, a redshirt

freshman guard on Cal Poly men’s basketball team, lives in Poly Canyon Village with fellow teammate and redshirt freshman Joel Awich along with friends they knew from the freshman dormitories last year.

“As an athlete, you understand the lifestyle of the other person even if it’s not one of your teammates,” Morgan said.

“They understand the competition, how much you’re working.

It’s a community I feel like. An automatic connection that you have with other athletes just based on the fact you’re competing at a Division I level.”

Living together has helped the duo become closer both on and off the basketball court, according to Morgan.

And it has showed in the sta-

tistics so far this season.

Morgan, a top prospect out of high school, is shooting 36.6 percent from 3-point range while Awich has seen significant minutes as a young big man up front for the Mustangs lately. Each has been rewarded with more playing time while the other is on the floor.

“It’s nice to have a relationship outside of the basketball setting,” Morgan said. “(Joel) is not just my teammate, but he’s also my friend … I think that allows us to be closer and be better teammates.”

All incoming freshmen on the team have similar specialty living situations arranged when they make their initial splash at Cal Poly. They are housed with fellow freshmen

teammates in the dorms to build the bonds necessary for cohesive play on the court.

“It gets you respect from the other players in other sports and, of course, on your team,” Morgan said.

For Molly Schlemer, a junior center on the women’s basketball team, the biggest advantage to living with a teammate is sharing the heavily regimented schedule necessary to play sports while achieving success in school.

Schlemer and sophomore guard Kristen Ale live together in Poly Canyon as well. But in contrast to her men’s basketball counterparts, Schlemer didn’t live with a teammate see ATHLETES, pg. 30

5

28 | Mustang Daily

FIVE

you need to know

On-Campus Info Five Rules for living on campus, according to Tessa Stevens, Outreach and Programs Coordinator at University Housing:

❶ Students can self-assign their roommates and which apartment they

want to live in by going online in the summer to select their building, floor, apartment and room, Stevens said.

❷ On campus offers individual lease contracts for their bedroom space and students aren’t responsible for their roommates, she said.

❸ No guarantors, co-signers, credit checks or applications fees are

required, according to Stevens. Students apply online through the Housing Tab on the My Cal Poly Portal and pay their initial payment to reserve their space, she said.

❹ If a student wants to leave before their yearly contract is up — for

example graduating in winter or studying abroad — they must submit a written 30-day notice and proof of acceptance into an affiliated Cal Poly program to cancel their housing contract at Poly Canyon Village, Stevens said.

❺ Poly Canyon Village also provides a weekly custodial service for apartment common areas, she said.

Mustang Daily | 29

Off-Campus Info Five laws and local ordinances for living off campus, according to San Luis Obispo Police Department (SLOPD) Captain Chris Staley

❶ “Noise Ordinance ­— that’s been a big issue in San Luis Obispo for the past 20

years,” Staley said. The first offense is a $300 fine, the second increases to $700 and the third offense is $1,000.

❷ The Disorderly Party violation goes further than the noise violation and has dif-

ferent fines, according to Staley. This is when someone has a larger gathering and other laws are broken as well, such as littering.

❸ The Social Host Gathering Ordinance involves providing alcohol to people under the age of 21, which according to Staley, is a misdemeanor. “I think this is one people should be aware of so they aren’t blind-sided,” Staley said.

❹ Parking on yards: “A city ordinance makes it illegal to park vehicles on what would be a lawn area,” Staley said. This situation normally occurs when there are more people living in a house than the house has room or parking room for, so people park on lawns, Staley said.

❺ With the Trashcan Ordinance, trashcans have to be out of sight from the street, except on the day of pick-up, Staley said.

30 | Mustang Daily

ATHLETES continued from page 25

her freshman season when she lived in Sierra Madre.

Instead, she roomed with a

friend from nearby Righetti mer said. “There have been a High School in Santa Maria. couple of occasions where I’d While she enjoyed it, the ex- sleep passed my alarm for 6 perience of living with a team- a.m. practice and my roommate is unparalleled, she said. mate would wake me up. …

“From a practice point of She understands the lifestyle.” view, you have rides,” SchleWhile student-athletes

NHA HA/MUSTANG DAILY

Redshirt freshman guard Reese Morgan (above) lives in Poly Canyon Village with Joel Awich, a forward on the men’s basketball team. They also live with non-athletes who they met this past year.

such as Morgan and Schlemer often seek out fellow teammates and athletes to live with both on and off campus, living with one’s quarterback, pitcher or other cohort on the field used to be much more common at Cal Poly.

Heron, Jespersen and Chase Halls on campus used to be dormitories reserved for incoming Cal Poly student-athletes, according to former Cal Poly football head coach and director of athletics Joe Harper.

Through a scholarship housing arrangement, the university housed studentathletes as well as other “student leaders” in these specialty residence halls near Alex G. Spanos Stadium from 1969 to 1980. But Cal Poly converted the three halls to make room for 168 faculty members that were forced to vacate their temporary office spaces in Tenaya Hall at the time, according to a transcription of former president Robert E. Kennedy’s Jan. 21, 1975 convocation speech.

Then, Cal Poly’s total enrollment was 13,500 students versus approximately 18,762 today — allowing for an excess of open dormitory rooms.

“They were surplus dorms on campus because new dorms had opened on campus,” Harper said. “(President Kennedy) gave us the go ahead to use (Heron, Jespersen and Chase Halls) for athletic housing. The athletic department was responsible for maintaining them and providing supervision.”

But after the buildings were deemed uninhabitable, Cal Poly’s student-athletes were displaced to traditional dormitory settings on campus, rendering athlete-specific housing a thing of the past.

Now it’s up to the athletes and their specific coaching staffs to decide with whom they live. But more often than not, one will find an athlete living with a fellow athlete.

Mustang Daily | 31

WORD ON THE STREET

WORD ON THE STREET

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR ROOMMATE?

WHAT DO YOU HATE ABOUT YOUR ROOMMATE?

“Oh, lots of things. They clean and they’re definitely fun to live with.”

• Becca Bollier agricultural and environmental plant sciences senior

“She always makes sweets.”

• Elyse Lopez journalism junior

“Early morning classes and being too sexy.”

• Evan Hirsch electrical engineering sophomore

“I could go on forever.”

• Lev Vaysman animal science junior

“He tries to keep it quiet when I’m trying to sleep.”

“Dishes don’t get done as fast as I would like.”

• Jack Mast agricultural and environmental plant sciences senior

• Leah Avila mathematics junior