Jones Hall Undergoes Small Upgrades
   By: Jana Hagen
CARLINVILLE, IL - Hundreds of students arrived Aug. 19 and 20, 2005 at Blackburn College’s campus to begin another year. Many of these students were the female residents of Jones Hall, which houses approximately 80 women.

Upon arrival, Jones Hall residents were surprised to find many small upgrades. These small, but nice changes consisted of mini-blinds, a television, and microwaves.

There were mini-blinds installed in every room. Jones Hall resident director Reid Noud stated “In the college’s effort to
better the standard of living in the residence halls, and to make the residents feel more at home, the department of residence life felt that a nice improvement would be to install mini-blinds in all of the rooms.

Over the past two years, money has been set aside for purchase of the mini-blinds, with blinds being installed in Graham and Challacombe halls last year, and now Jones Hall. The mini-blinds were installed during the summer by students.”
Several summer break workers from the Campus Maintenance department put in several days of labor to get the job done. Sophomore Tara Cory stated “I really appreciate what the college has done, it brightens up the room and puts me in a better mood.”

Other opinions were less cheerful. Jamie Barbeau passed on her thoughts by explaining “the mini-blinds were
very generous, but in my opinion, it was about time.” Not only were there noticeable changes in the resident’s rooms, but in the Hall’s parlor and hallways as well. Noud purchased a new 27” television set and a DVD/VCR player for the residents to enjoy, which will be installed as soon as possible, along with new microwaves and tables for the hallways.
“I was able to purchase these new items through allocated funds given to us by student senate. The Jones Hall house council thought that it would be nice to replace the overused microwaves and television that was being provided at the time.

Hopefully, through this years allocations, we can make several other improvements to the parlor” said Noud. “I want the parlor to be a place for residents to go and relax, rather than a place to go for a mandatory dorm meeting.”

Future preparation and planning for Jones Hall is tentative from this point on, but one of the things they want to improve is parking. “As of right now, no other surprises or improvements are being planned; however, if our house council is more active than in past years, we might be able to make the parlor a more fun place to be. The most important thing I want to change is the parking situation. Only half of the residents get to park outside of Jones because there are not enough spots available”, said Reid Noud.