Page 12 • Thursday, October 9 2003
Features
The Pendulum
Roommate selection: The art of the imperfect science
Diane Suchetka
KRJ Campus
They seemed like the perfect
college roommates, Meagan
Bailey and Melissa Doss.
The UNC Charlotte education
majors are both from the N.C.
mountains, both country music
fans who love to work out. They
even took the same classes their
freshman year, so they went to
bed at the same time, woke up at
the same time.
They had so much in common,
they displayed their loathing for
each other in identical ways.
The silent treatment.
“For weeks,” Doss says.
And then they’d explode.
Instead of perfect first-year
college roommates, they ended up
a perfect example of how tough it
can be for colleges to turn total
strangers into friends who want to
share a room the size of a closet.
This is the time of year when
universities learn just how hard
the matching can be. September
and October, for many schools, is
roommate-switching time.
Colleges try all sorts of ways
to keep the time-consuming
changes to a minimum.
One way is a new computer
program called WebRoomz,
which works something like an
on-line dating service.
About a dozen schools, includ
ing UNC Greensboro, are using -
or are about to try - what the
Atlanta company says is the only
computer program in the United
States that gives students the
opportunity to choose their own
roommates.
For a minimum of $35,000
colleges lease the WebRoomz
program then ask students to fill
out computer questionnaires
about the hours they sleep, the'
music they listen to and how
warm or cold they like their
rooms.
Each student’s responses are
logged into the WebRoomz pro
gram with an on-line name. Those
searching for roommates browse
through the responses looking for
the perfect match. Just to be sure,
they can talk via computer, tele
phone or in person.
Online names protect their pri
vacy and reduce the risk of hurt
feelings. Students don’t have to
reveal their identities until they
agree to become roommates.
“It gives the students the free
dom to choose,” says Sarah
Nikirk, associate director of auxil
iary services at the University of
Kentucky, which is just beginning
to add the program.
“They’re in the driver’s seat.”
WebRoomz claims the pro
gram cuts down on the number of
students who ask for room
changes. But officials from sever
al schools say it’s too early to tell.
That’s not the main reason
schools use it, anyway.
“It has to do with student satis
faction,” says John Campbell,
director of housing and residence
life at UNC Greensboro, which
just began implementing
WebRoomz.
“It gives the students a little
more sense of control.”
Most schools in the Carolinas
still match roommates the old-
fashioned way. Students fill out
questionnaires and workers match
them - by hand, in many cases.
There are dozens of variations.
UNC Charlotte, for example,
asks five questions, three about
smoking:
1) Are you a smoker?
2) Do you object to smoking?
3) Do you prefer a nonsmoking
roommate?
The school also asks students
if they have a preferred roommate
or want to live in special housing
such as the honors dorms or
Greek housing.
At the other end of the spec
trum is Davidson College. The
private school north of Charlotte
bases roommate pairings on the
Myers-Briggs personality inven
tory along with a list of lifestyle
questions (Do you study with
music?) and information on stu
dents’ hobbies and family living
situations.
“We try not to put a member of
the Brady Bunch with the only
child of a single mother,” says
Leslie Marsicano, Davidson’s
director of residence life.
The system works, Marsicano
says. Only four of 470 freshmen
asked for room changes last year.
“When my colleagues tease
me, I just remind them that we
don’t have the level of requests to
make switches that they do at
their campuses.”
Students say they can’t imag
ine any method working perfectly
all the time.
“You really don’t know people
until you live with them,” says
Raechelle Berry, 19, a sophomore
social work major at UNC
Charlotte.
Her freshman roommate expe
rience was, in her words, horrible.
She ended up spending much of
her time with her boyfriend, Larry
Owens.
His freshman roommate
moved out after the two
exchanged words.
The music major told Owens
he couldn’t sing. Owens shot back
with an insult of his own. You
can’t play the trumpet, he told his
roommate.
Nothing was the same after
that.
“It’s silly,” Berry says, “but
those are the little things that hap
pen.”
Who can predict?
Take a look at Bailey and
Doss.
They toughed it out their first
year and finally realized they did
n’t like each other because they
were so much alike.
“It’s like marriage,” Bailey
said, as the two shared lunch
between classes recently.
They’re sophomores now and
best friends. Roommates, too.
This year, they asked to live
together.
Tammy Hill works behind the
scenes at Residence Life
Melanie Vogel / Photographer
Tammy Hill of Residence Life has been working at
Elon for four years “I love being able to tap into
someone else’s life, ” she said. -
Melanie Vogel
Reporter
Bom and raised in Burlington, Tammy
Hill has worked at Elon University for four
years. She spent one year working in TV
Services and for the past three years has
answered .students’ questions and handled
complaints in the office of Residence Life.
As the secretary at Residence Life, some of
her responsibilities include customer serv
ice, information management, supervising
student workers and scheduling.
Hill said she wanted to work at Elon
because of the beautiful campus, the end
less opportunities and because everyone
was so nice to her.
“In a world where there is so much ugly,
it is nice to see beauty everyday when you
get out of your car,” she said.
In fact, .she said she applied to work only
at Elon because she knew it was the right
place for her.
Hill said her favorite part of her job is
information management, interacting with
students and parents and working with the
student workers.
“1 love being able to tap into someone
else’s life, share their happijiess, and be a
part of their experience,” she said.
Co-workers enjoy tapping into Hill’s life
as well.
“Tammy is a wonderful person to work
with. She is very professional but also
knows how to make work fun,” .said
Christina Kane, a student worker in
Residence Life.
However, working with Residence Life
is not all fun and games, especially during
the housing selection process in the .spring.
Hill said she dislikes not being able to
accommodate everyone’s first choices and
then having to break the news to students
that they are not living in their desired loca
tion.
As for her future, Hill said she foresees
many trips to Wilmington, N.C.
“My son is currently a
sophomore in high school and
his top choice is the
University of North Carolina
at Wilmington,” she said.
In addition. Hill said she
would like to be able to take
classes ^t Elon and get degrees
in astronomy, art and music
history.
Astronomy is Hill’s pas
sion in life.
“Astronomy represents a
never ending of discovery for
me,’ she said. “I am humbled
by the vastness, mystery and
beauty of our universe, and
will seek every opportunity to
learn more.”
Hill said she also loves poetry, especial
ly that by Lord Byron, reading books and
crocheting.
Contact Melanie Vogel at
pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.