Books for the Break Friday, January 6, 2023
Students talk about their winter break classes Payton Little Staff Reporter Winter break may seem like it is all about resting until the upcoming spring semester, but for some, it is warming up for classes to come. With students spread all across the country during winter break, re-
laxation is on the brain. Students have more than a month off to do as they please, an opportunity not always present during the semester. However, some students use this break from classes just to take even more classes. Everyone has varying reasons for this, but nevertheless, here are a few students hitting the books over break. For students like Addison Darby, a sophomore at OSU taking “Exploring North American Diversity” during the break, winter break classes are an opportunity to jump ahead and grab that diploma as fast as possible. “I decided to take it so that my other semesters won’t be too over-
whelming since I am planning on graduating a semester early,” Darby said. “It is obviously way lighter than a normal semester, but still a decent amount of work since the course is so condensed.” While winter break courses are a great time to get ahead, the classes can also interrupt part of what makes winter break so special, a time to escape. For sophomore Sarah Teeman, multitasking needed to be done to get the most out of her vacation time. “I’m taking ‘HIV/ AIDS’ because it isn’t offered as a course during the spring semester,” Teeman said. “It altered my schedule because I went on a
vacation and had to spend a significant amount of time on it while I was there.” A similar circumstance occurred for Jasmine Husain, a junior at OSU, as not only did she bring in the new year with a class, but she is finishing an essay before her birthday. “Now in the break, it’s getting a little hectic because we have two papers and an exam due in the span of five days,” Husain said. “On a personal note, one of the papers is due on my birthday, and I do not want to do a paper that day so I’m rushing to do it before.” See Break on 5A
Q&A with Leon McClinton, OSU’s director of housing and residential life Luisa Clausen residential comNews and Lifestylemunities. Q-Can you Editor tell me a little
File photo Damaged water pipes impacted several residential halls, including Village B, throughout winter break.
Arctic temperatures caused facility issues in the OSU residential halls Luisa Clausen News and Lifestyle Editor
worked during winter break to help students get situated. It’s not the first time resident halls had flooding due to pipes bursting in cold weather, but it is the first Freezing weather and pipes are time it has happened during winter not best friends. break. The majority of the students The arctic temperatures in were not staying in the dorms to reOklahoma during the final two weeks spond to the incident. McClinton said of 2022 caused facility issues in the him and his staff have been commuOSU residential halls. nicating with the residents affected. Oklahoma State Housing and “Our departmental leaderResidential Life announced frozen ship team, community mentors, pipes resulted in water damage and full-time staff, and graduate student caused issues with the fire panels and staff worked non-stop throughout electronic door access. the break to accommodate students Leon McClinton, the director that needed a temporary living space of housing and residential life, has while we remediate affected spaces,”
McClinton said. “I’m so fortunate to be working with such a dedicated and committed team.” McClinton has worked as the director of housing and residential life for 7 1/2 years and said he considers his job energizing because he is able to impact student’s lives in and outside of the classroom. As of Jan. 3, Wentz, Village E and Village F are all closed. OSU Facilities Management is working to repair the panels and is coordinating with vendors should parts need to be replaced. See Residential on 3A
The arctic temperatures in Oklahoma during the last two weeks of 2022 caused facility issues in the OSU residential halls. The O’Colly talked to Leon McClinton, the director of Housing and Residential Life. McClinton shared some of the challenges during this period and emphasized how much work is being done behind the scenes to get everything in order for the student’s return in two weeks. Q- How long have you been the director of housing and residential life? A-For 7 ½ years. Q-What are some of the most challenging things about your job? A-I would not consider it a challenge. I think it’s energizing to be able to impact students’ lives in and outside of the classroom. I can be in a meeting about how academic initiatives can be implemented in living-learning communities and then the next hour, I’m meeting to figure out how to physically modify a living space that will encourage students to spend time with each other. As I reflect on my career, I think it is more challenging to get students off of their phones and spend time with students in their
bit about how dealing with the weather issues was for you, as a director? Were the students mad or understanding? A-It’s not the first time we’ve had flooding due to pipes bursting in cold weather. The main difference this time is that it happened during the winter break. The majority of the students were not here to respond to the incident. We have been communicating with residents of rooms that have been impacted by water and have encouraged them to retrieve their belongings. Villages E and F and Wentz Hall had several days where the fire panel was not functioning, so our departmental leadership team, community mentors, full-time staff and graduate student staff worked non-stop throughout the break to accommodate students that needed a temporary living space while we remediate affected spaces. I’m so fortunate to be working with such a dedicated and committed team. Q- Were you scared at any moment while trying to get everything figured out? A- We had staff on duty throughout the break. I was not scared, but I had to provide
See Q&A on 3A