University of Arkansas Fayetteville - Razorback Yearbook (Fayetteville, AR)

Page 28 text:

Studen their space into works of art. From polka-dot curtains to yellow and purple paper lan¬ tern lights, students spent weeks decorating their small dorm room spaces to create a home away from home. Decorating a 14x11 cinder block room was quite a task at hand for the thousands of students living in residence halls. The first thought that crossed many students’ minds was the question of space. “When I was looking at the room plan online, I was thinking ‘Where am I go¬ ing to put all my clothes?”’ fresh¬ man Casey Sowers said. A complete makeover was en¬ sued for students who added curtains to dress up the drab windows, colorful bedspreads, carpet, rugs and lamps. “My roommate and I put up curtains for decoration, and we each chose a wild printed bedspread,’’ Sowers said. “We just talked about it during the summer and decorated it all before classes started.” Sophomore Richard Watkins began his dorm decorating process early, when he found out he was a resident assistant on the sixth floor of Humphreys Hall. Watkins moved into the dorms at the beginning of August for RA training, and he began the process of moving furni¬ ture and furnishing his room. “I was constantly changing things until I found a style I liked,” he said. Watkins transformed the small space into an apartment- style home by arranging the furniture differently than the standard layout of the dorms. He moved his desk around, added a futon, a new com¬ puter desk and chair, and two coffee tables. “I wanted to give my room more of an apartment look and feel to it because the rooms in Humphreys are really old,” Watkins said. “I didn’t want to feel like I was living in a jail cell.” The cinder blocks certainly did not add to the “home” feel of the rooms, so many students added photographs, bul¬ letin boards and plenty of posters to fill the walls. Watkins chose a Razorback theme and spruced up the room with Hog flags, blankets and the school colors. “I wanted the colors to represent the Razorbacks, of course, and also wanted to try a new color scheme because all my stuff back at home is blue and green,” he said. Electronics like computers, playstations, speakers and big screen TVs made the room feel much more like home. Decorating the small space was no easy task, but students found creative ways to bring their own style into the room. by Carolyn I innie

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The unavoidable ho t-buying cycle finds college students spending big bucks with minimal return. Unlike the fairly easy first week they were used to in high school, new freshmen at the UA had to scope out campus to find their classes, learn how to be responsible enough to actually attend class and, for the first time, buy their own textbooks. The University Bookstore, located in the Union, was a popular spot for book buying. This year the store offered a new credit system to lessen the blow of the oftentimes expensive cost of book s. More than a month before school started, the students could go to the bookstore and pick up the books they needed for the semester. They had until the third week of school to return their books for the full price. Ali Sadeghi, the director of the University Bookstore, said they implemented the new plan in response to parents who kept inquiring about the cost of books, wondering how nauch they should budget for them. And it turned out the credit system was a major success for the fall semester. Tt exceeded our expectation,” Sadeghi said. “About 6,000 students actually used it.” Sadeghi said the bookstore encouraged teachers to keep them informed early on if they planned on using their text¬ book again or if they would switch to an updated edition, by knowing the information early the bookstore found other campuses that might be interested in buying the old books. The bookstore bought books back at the end of the semes¬ ter so that students could get some money returned to their pockets. If the book was being used again, the bookstore would pay 50 percent of the purchase value. If it was not be¬ ing used on the UA campus again, the price would depend on how much the other campuses were willing to pay for the book - ranging from 10 to 30 percent of purchase value. If no other campus was using the book then it was consid¬ ered a “dead book.” Students who had dead books could donate them to the Better World Group, a nonprofit organization. The books were also turned in for a tax deduction. During the 2004- 2005 school year more than 4,000 books were donated and given to victims of the devastating tsunami that struck South Asia in December 2004. When the time came to buy and sell books, the bookstore brought in extra staff to help with the boom in business. The bookstore hired up to 100 students to work during the peak hours, and oftentimes these workers ended up acquir¬ ing a part-time job later on at the bookstore. Sadeghi said the Thursday before school started until the Wednesday of the first week of school was their busiest time, selling 70 percent of their books during those days. He said many students waited until school started to make sure they were going to need the book for their class and a quarter of the students waited until after the third day of class before coming in to purchase their books. And since most classes required the purchase of a text¬ book or supplies, the bookstores could count on students to return each semester with a backpack full of old books and a list full of new ones. by Dana Muggins t lt joo u '

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Moinore finance major and J phreys RA Richard Watkins j n es in his room decorated iheine an l Rlatk R a ort)ack on h° S ' le pa e: aikins lounges Saj(| ' j l)ed ins ' c e Humphreys. I le [i llrl . (J s l )eni about two weeks ( ] e lfle Perfect style and uet °rating l0s by Gigi Holder c o vn room c ecor