Dirty laundry is strung across everything in sight. Music constantly blares as studying becomes nearly impossible. Personal problems become everyone's problem. The end of the semester cannot come soon enough for some roommates. If they do not act in time, or at all, the same roommate could greet them in the fall.
Housing and Residence Life's Ball State Roommate Search online is up and running for students to search for their potential roommate in the fall. In addition to whom a student will room with, they must find where they will live.
This is the third year for returning students and the second year for new students to use the room and roommate search on the Web, Alan Hargrave, director of housing and residence life, said. Students in residence halls and university apartments can use the on-line service.
Residents received e-mails with their PIN they need to share with their potential roommate earlier last week.
To use the Ball State Roommate Search, residents fill out questions about their preferences and personality. A message is sent to the resident for a potential match then confirmed by the recipient, Hargrave said.
About half of campus residents choose their roommate and half are assigned a roommate, Hargrave said.
Sophomore Brad Teach of Witchcraft Hall said the service helped him to find a roommate from his backyard last year.
"I didn't know anyone in the area from my hometown going to Ball State but my roommate was in the same county," Teach said.
Teach also said he liked the way the service eliminated the extensive process to physically go out and meet people to see if they need a roommate.
Some students such as sophomore Christina Jasinski cannot stand the dorm life. Jasinski, of Wood Hall, says she will move off campus with three ladies she met her freshman year.
"I felt it was time to experience life outside the whole dorm," Jasinski said. "You're not going to be living in a dorm all your life."
Last year she had three roommates. The first left after a couple days, the second had school issues and the third had personal problems. She also had a roommate who left last semester. After four bad experiences, Jasinski chose to live alone in the dorm.
Despite the horrid tales, Hargrave said "We found students that we assigned to roommates, don't have any higher frequency [of changing roommates] than those who chose their own roommate."
The process of being assigned to a roommate is "more of an art than a science," Hargrave said.
He said hall directors sift through cards students fill out about their interests and background and decide who they think the student will get along with the best. However, he said less of an option arrives for the spring semester as roommate assignments are done more to fill in empty spots.
Picking a roommate completes half the battle. Room signups begin Monday for those with premium plan contracts through Aug. 31, 2002.
Room signups have a pattern that honors premium then standard plans by date of contracts. For instance, standard plan contract holders have to wait until Feb. 15 for room signup, according to the letter distributed to residents earlier last week.
Anyone can sign-up for the same room on the first day, Hargrave said. Residents can also take no action to keep their room and meal plan the same, he said.
To select their room on-line, residents select a desired hall. The site then shows available rooms in the hall. Before the reservation, residents must sign their contract, Hargrave said. Premium plan contract holders are automatically signed into their contract, he said.
Information via the Web must be submitted by 5 p.m. March 4. After that, residents can submit their information at the Office of Housing and Residence Life in LaFollette or mail it in, Hargrave said.
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