Win with winter Articles / Online Date: December 7, 2006

Sean Tibbitts, Sports Editor This winter, the holiday season will cause a little less stress for campus residents. For the first time ever, students on campus will not have to pay additional fees to remain in their residences over the winter break. | The result of a decision last year to absorb the winter cost into the regular semester housing fees, this change is aimed at assisting students who have jobs or other obligations in the area, according to Don Yackley, Director of Residential Life. “We don’t expect many people to stay, but now students can leave later and come back earlier,” said Yackley. Simona Dipedrini, BUS junior, plans to come and go since the option is available. “It’s really nice that I can come back this year, last year I had to basically move completely out and then back in,” said Dipedrini. All that’s required of students who will stay is that they inform their residential advisors (RAs), some of whom will remain on campus throughout the break. Students who will not stay would check out with their RAs for a short safety inspection. Samantha Nelums, SBS junior, plans to return to North Quad for a few weeks before classes resume. “I know it’s going to be quiet around here, but hopefully the people who live off campus will stick around,” said Nelums. For those students who do plan on staying, many services will still be available, such as the campus shuttle, which will run every half hour rather than every fifteen minutes. The library will re-open the first week of Jan., operating Mon- Fri from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Dining services will maintain normal hours until Dec. 23, and will resume regular lunch and dinner hours Jan. 2. As for student activities, there aren’t many being planned for the few who do stay over the break. According to Yackley, there are generally such few people who stay that it’s difficult to plan activities for those who do, unlike the Thanksgiving break when Residential Life prepared a turkey dinner for lingering students.