By Mike Gincel, Contributing Writer
The buzz has been all around campus for the past year. Ken Posner, Associate Vice President of Student Services and Frank Mezzanini, Chief Financial Officer of Saint Leo University, unveiled plans for two new dorm halls to alleviate the growing population of our student body. They were to be called Apartment 5 and 6. Apartment 6 would open in the spring of 2013 and Apartment 5 was to open this upcoming fall semester. Apartment 5 was to include resort style amenities such as a new game room, four relaxation pods, a fitness center, a café, a lounge and a multimedia room. These new apartments sounded like they were going to become one of the best places to hang out on campus and living there would be just as great. The apartments are intriguing, offering sophomores and juniors an appealing place to live. The amenities are suprising, even for a campus as nice as Saint Leo University.
The first thing that strikes the eye is the giant game room and lounge within the first floor of apartment 5. The game room has gotten a lot of attention in the first few days of its opening. Many students were enjoying pinball, dome hockey and two pool tables. Many of the freshman students have taken a liking to the new game room. Freshmen Larry Murphy and Nicolas Jablonsky both agree that the pool tables are “very nice and the game room itself has nice equipment.” Jablonsky even said he “preferred this room to Benoit’s lounge.” Many students agree that the quality of the game room is better than most lounges in the other residence halls.
Unsurprisingly, the relaxation pods received mixed reviews. Many students felt that it was hard to relax in these futuristic pods but others found them quite relaxing. Some students soon realized that this quiet room on campus may not be for everyone, but for some it is a relaxing oasis.
The other big thing in the lounge is the huge fish tank that has many fish and stingrays swimming around. When asked about the fish tank and the lounge Associate Vice President of Student Services Ken Posner said: “The fish tank came out very nice. We wanted a lounge area for both residential and commuter students to come together and to strengthen our core value of Community. We wanted a place for people to hang out.”
The living arrangements are spacious and have an added bonus of a 46 inch flat screen television in each common room of the new apartments. But not all students think the television is the best quality. Junior Ravin Forde felt that the TV was: “nice for television and movies, but it lags when it comes to video games.” When asked what he did like about the new halls, Forde responded: “It is very roomy in the bedroom area and it is a very nice looking building.” Another complaint of residents is the heat and the lack of cellular service. Junior Wendy Howard has stated that the main problem with the new residence hall is that “calls are always dropped and that I have to go outside to take a call.” There is also a major problem with the central air conditioning: in rooms, it does not always work. Plant Operations is working on the problem as of this issue.
The new residence halls do have one or two minor issues like most residence halls do. This residence hall does help the core value of Community: it has more of a presence on-campus. A nice lounge, a splendid game room and spacious rooming makes this new building the talk of the campus and a hot spot for living. Apartment 6 should be opening this upcoming fall semester and many students will be signing up to live there as well.
