Creighton University - Bluejay Yearbook (Omaha, NE)

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Palms Towers The Palms staff began the school year with the slogan, The Good Life. Head Resident Adviser Rich Ricci ex- plained the reasoning behind this slogan. We wanted to emphasize the fact that it ' s a privilege to live here. We wanted to make it a good life for those who chose not to moOe off campus for one reason or another. Ricci explained that the Palms is not like other dor- mitories in which residents have greater access to each other. He said he wanted to establish an open door policy in which residents wouldn ' t be afraid to approach each other. We really wanted to facilitate friendships, he said. I think we ' ve succeeded, and hope it will continue. Ricci attributes this success to a fabulous staff : Robin Dunn, Steve Moore, Matt Nigro, Dan Voss and Maureen Gara. We want to make the dorm a pleasant place to live, yet suitable for study. We try to emphasize the social aspects, that there ' s more to school than studies. We want people to get to know each other, Ricci said. A television room lounge was added to facilitate in- teraction between residents, Ricci said. Ricci said there are great relationships between the residents of the Palms. The students make the dor- mitory, he said. Palms resident Anne Barry, an Arts junior, said, The staff creates an atmosphere in which the residents are unified. The resident advisers are successful at establishing good relationships among the residents. It ' s a comfortable, warm place to live. Beyond just a great place to live, it ' s a great place to be, Ricci said. The Towers had a totally different atmosphere dur- ing the year compared with previous years, according to Trudy Walter, head resident adviser. The reason is a change in the type of residents, Walter said. The Towers was the testing ground for housing graduate and married students. I love the people here, Walter said. Graduate students have to spend a lot of time studying - that ' s just part of being a graduate student. But they also take time to have fun. It ' s a very close-knit group. Many are going through the same things and so they support each other. There ' s a family-type atmosphere. In addition to the graduate and married students, there are also two floors of seniors. Walter said the seniors who moved to Towers were looking for a more quiet at- mosphere, and so enjoy living with the graduate students. Walter attributes the success of the dorm ' s new format in part to the fantastic staff that consisted of resident advisers Angel Demman, Ron Freimuth and Larry Dang. When they came to Towers there were no precedents set, but they came right through and adjusted to the dif- ferent needs of the new residents, she said. Walter said that because many of the residents were new to Omaha, the RA ' s served as a go-between, in- itiating activities and creating opportunities for the residents to get to know each other. 16