MOVE-IN SPECIAL | Aug. 23, 2013 | Midwestern State University | thewichitan.com | Your Campus. Your News.
PHOTO BY HANWOOL LEE / WICHITAN
PHOTO BY HANWOOL LEE / WICHITAN
Doncan Mayer, a junior in business, moves his belongings to McCulloughTrigg residence hall Wednesday.
1,300 MOVE IN TODAY
Sabina Marroquin, a resident assistant in Killingsworth residence hall and junior in history, prepares gifts for incoming students.
Resident assistants, housing staff ‘roll out welcome mat’
ETHAN METCALF REPORTER
A
t first impression, a new dorm may seem rather sterile. The white masonry brick walls. Old, six-inch thick mattresses covered in plastic. And the roommate. Then there’s the roommate. With more than 1,300 students moving into the residence halls today, the faster internet access, the digital cable system and the use of an off-campus apartment complex to house nearly 100 students avoiding overcrowding on campus, Director of Housing Michael Mills said he and his staff are ready to assist the students. “We want to roll out the welcome mat and make sure that everybody feels welcome,” Mills said. Mills said the housing department advises stu-
Musical Innovation
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New director of bands and 82 members spend week getting back into swing.
dents who attended Spirit Days to check in today due to the increasing size of the freshman class. “We’ve seen at least 100 to 150 more requests for university housing than we have over the last two or three years,” Mills said. “Our freshman enrollment numbers are projected to be up considerably from the last two years, and that makes sense with all the requests for housing.” Despite the large number of incoming residents, Mills said he encourages anyone who needs assistance to contact the housing department but suggested students with a minor issue like needing a bed adjustment might wait until the initial rush of move-in day dies down. “We’re going to try and address as many students as we can,” Mills said. “With that being said, we’ll have to prioritize based on there being 1,300
Hotter ‘n Hell Today
students moving in and only two maintenance staff members.” Mills said the housing department is proud of a few changes they have been working on since last semester so they would be ready for students coming this fall. “…[W]e’ve completed our Internet upgrade,” Mills said. “Prior to this year, we only had wired Internet in the rooms, and it was very slow.” Mills said the new Internet service has seven times the bandwidth than the previous year’s service, along with some other perks. “Students now have both wired and wireless access,” Mills said. “There’s a full 24-hour customer service dedicated specifically to Midwestern, and they’ll even help you set up your Xboxes or what-
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Cycling team begins weekend criterium series.
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Game On
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Football, volleyball and soccer teams prepare for season.