The Scripps Voice

By Oriana LaVilla ’14
Features Editor

Scripps — it is that time of year again: the time when hall draw descends upon us. The sense of tension and anticipation has begun to surface around campus as students receive their hall draw numbers, and begin to research and plan their living situations for the upcoming year.

This year SAS held a BeHeard Forum to collect students’ opinions and ideas on the current hall draw process in order to reform rules and regulations for an easier and more student-friendly process.

A large number of students attended this forum and a great number of suggestions were put into play. Recent changes to the Scripps College hall draw process have been put into effect. But is anyone really taking advantage of them?

The SAS snack this past Sunday featured an unofficial mock hall draw so that students could predict the likelihood of drawing into particular rooms. Though a sound idea in theory, the mock hall draw was weak in practice.

In the end, only fifteen hall draw numbers were written on the whiteboards lining the walls of the Student Union. Either students had not been adequately informed of the opportunity, or their interest and passion for new regulations have dwindled from the passionate voice for change at the BeHeard Forum.

Responding to this lack of participation, Eliza Silverman (’14) said, “I think the mock hall draw is a good idea but only if everyone participates. I am not going to take the time to write down my number if there are only fifteen other people who do the same. However, I think it would be a great resource to students if it was official.”

Although the changes this year did not work out exactly as SAS had planned, they functioned as a series of test runs which should be helpful in upcoming years.

SAS will continue to work with the Scripps administration to reform the hall draw process in a way that reflects the input and desires of all Scripps students.

By Susan Goldblatt ‘14
Guest Writer

On March 6, the Board of Trustees approved the commencement of plans to design a new dorm located in the north east corner of campus. The site is across from Routt Hall, where the maintenance service buildings are currently located. A design committee made up of students, faculty, board members and staff will work with architect Elizabeth Moule to create the schematic design for the new dorm.

Students can expect a building “harmonious with the traditional Mediterranean style of Scripps College…look at [for example] Balch Hall or Toll,” said Scripps College Treasurer James Manifold.

According to Manifold, the dorm will most likely consist of singles, doubles and suite style housing, similar to the set up of GJW. The cost of the project cannot be accurately determined at this time, but it will be funded by “gifts, borrowed (tax-exempt) money, and savings,” said Manifold.

“The dorm will probably take a year to design, and a year to a year and a half to build; The [first year class of 2014] will probably have graduated by the time the new dorm is completed,” said Manifold.  In an e-mail, President Bettison-Varga said that “any plans for construction on this site require approval by the City of Claremont and the Los Angeles County Fire Department.”

Scripps enrollment has been steadily increasing over the years, culminating with the class of 2014 which has more than 250 students. If this trend continues, the total enrollment could easily reach 1,000 students in the next 5 to 6 years. The influx of students has resulted in a housing crunch. According to the e-mail from President Bettison-Varga, the Board of Trustees has also voted to set a “target of 930 [students]…for the next several years until we can accommodate a larger student population in Scripps’ on-campus housing.”

The amount of students who stay in on-campus housing varies from year to year depending on the amount of students studying abroad and the amount that choose to live off-campus. Upon the completion of the new housing, the Board of Trustees would like to stabilize the enrollment at around 950 students.  According to Manifold, the ultimate goal is to guarantee “housing for any Scripps student who wants to live on-campus [at Scripps].”

By Rosemary McClure ‘13 and Charlotte Day-Reiss ‘13
Staff Writers

Many of you will remember receiving an email in December from Associate Dean of Students Staci Buchwald offering Scripps students the opportunity to live at Pomona for the second semester. An unusually large number of students returning from the fall semester abroad was cited as the reason for the housing crunch that led to this unusual resolution. Many were skeptical. Who would want to forgo beautiful Scripps dorms in favor of Pomona’s unknown and probably slightly crappier ones—and when they are so far away? Some sprung for it, knowing they would have first pick if they responded first, regardless of class or hall draw number. Scripps sophomore Charlotte Day-Reiss took first semester off and didn’t think she would be able to get a single on Scripps campus. But rather than be stuck in a double with someone she didn’t know, she opted for the Pomona plan and now lives in the Pomona dorm Mudd, on Bonita Ave. When asked if she would do it over again she said she would, “but not if there was a decent chance of me getting a single at Scripps.” She gave us a breakdown of the pros and cons of living at Pomona. The biggest con? Not the distance or not the inferiority of the actual quality of the rooms, but the ridiculously slow internet connection.

Pros
1. Proximity to fancy new dining halls such as Frank (not often frequented by Scripps students)

2. Potential to fulfill the ultimate Scripps fantasy (platonic male friends)

3. Gender-neutral restrooms (which got voted down in Scripps dorm Kimberly, and by that I mean a bunch of angry parents called)

Cons
1. Stone age internet (Scripps’s internet connection isn’t weighed down by hundreds of dudes playing Xbox Live)

2. Really far away (maybe Scripps should have paid for bicycles for those who agreed to live so far away?)

3. ID card shenanigans (your dorm building may have multiple doors, but your Scripps ID card often will only be activated for one of the doors—can be highly inconvenient)

4. No sinks in dorms

5. Scummy linoleum floors

By Liz Lyon (’12)
Staff Writer

PHOTO BY EMMA GAVIN. The Revelle House, currently the residence of President Lori Bettison-Varga and her family, may be replaced by a new dormitory to house the growing number of Scripps students

With a new semester and the return of students from study abroad, there was a huge housing crunch for returning and transfer students. With about 920 beds on campus, the College had to find additional space for 90 transfer and returning students, 30 of which are currently in Pomona dorms. The housing crunch has been a problem for the past several years, which Scripps’ administrative bodies are in the processes of addressing, spearheaded by President Bettison-Varga and Vice President James Manifold.

The Revelle House has been identified as a site for a future dormitory; however, there has been some controversy over the site. About a quarter of students and alumnae surveyed last fall think that having the president on-campus is important or very important. Although 75 percent of respondents said that it was not very important, Scripps’ Board members are keen to have the president and her family remain a very visible presence on campus. If the Revelle House is selected as a site, President Bettison-Varga and her family will relocate to a house chosen by the College on one of the nearby streets in Claremont. Of living in the Revelle House, Bettison-Varga says, “We have really enjoyed being on campus and opening the Revelle House and gardens on various occasions to students, faculty, staff, and members of the community. Living on campus is a wonderful way for me to feel more directly connected to the life of students, although it is very quiet in between semesters!”

As an alternative, the northeast corner of campus, just above the Tiernan soccer field where the service building currently stands, is also under consideration as a site for a dormitory. This second site has yet to come under review by the Board of Trustees; it is an irregular space that would not keep many of the structural elements which give Scripps buildings continuity, such as courtyards and hidden fountains. Because a site has not officially been chosen, and will not be chosen at least until March 2011, the project cannot move forward much further.

As Manifold explains, “It takes at least a year to design a building, and it takes another year and a half to construct a building. We’re looking at a project that will take between three and five years.”

The Buildings and Grounds Committee, which is spearheading the project, wishes to keep the composition of the dorms similar by including a mix of singles, doubles and suites. They aim to build a new dorm with enough space for 100 beds.

“Looking at how much we have fit onto the 30 acres of Scripps land, the College is very efficient at using space.” Manifold is confident that Scripps will move into the future with this new dorm, adapting the land to address Scripps’ current issues . However, for the next three graduating classes from Scripps, such news comes as a disappointment because some students will continue to be forced to live off-campus because there are not enough rooms available.