The Gamecock - News
Issue: 08/21/03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.dailygamecock.com/news/45...ml?mkey=809177
Greek Village opens more houses despite setbacks
By Kevin Fellner
Dozens of Greek students returning to campus this week moved into recently completed and well-furnished houses in USC's Greek Village, while others are still left stranded in hotels as the result of construction delays.
As Chi Omegas, Delta Zetas, Kappa Deltas and Kappa Kappa Gammas heaved boxes, suitcases and accessories into their respective houses, some of which had been deemed finished just hours before, the Sigma Nu house appeared quiet. But a construction crew inside raced to add carpentry and paint en route to a completion estimated at two to three weeks away.
Meanwhile, the fraternity's members settled into a hotel Friday at the expense of the builders.
"We're just happy to be in our house this year," third-year finance student and Sigma Nu member Brooks Tucker said. "It's just a minor inconvenience. Classes haven't even started yet, and it's just 10 days. We're just happy to be moving in."
Coordinator for Greek Life Mason Reuter said there was no particular reason for the construction delays.
The Alpha Chi Omega and Delta Delta Delta sororities are dealing with the same situation.
But for several students who have made the transition to the village from either McBryde or South Tower in previous years, the reaction is one of comfort. Or at least it will be once they have time to get settled.
"Most of us are still living out of suitcases," fourth-year public relations student and Delta Zeta vice president Katie Page said Tuesday during a brief break between sorority rush activities. "We just had so much to do to get ready for our fall recruitment."
Page and 31 other Delta Zetas practiced much of their rush activities in a Holiday Inn, where they stayed for two days before their house was ready. The house still needed some finishing touches this week, as sod was lain in the front yard Tuesday morning and cable TV and Internet access have yet to be installed. But Page said the first sight of the house's interior was exciting.
"Clean, pretty, new, nice. For me, it's (about) location since I have most of my classes in the Coliseum," Page said as her initial favorite aspects of the house. "Other perks are parking - it's near the new Strom Thurmond Center, kind of tucked away. It's not the hustle and bustle of campus."
Several students, seeing the houses for the first time, talked about how it was great to see the finished product after several years of blueprints and conceptual drawings.
"It's always nice to have someone come up to you and say 'Your house looks nice,'" fourth-year English student and Kappa Alpha president Heath Stewart said. "The village is really growing now and there's a real sense of community."
Others are impressed by some of the most spacious rooms on campus.
"It's actually better than I was thinking it would be," Page said. "When you look at it on paper, you say 'Oh, my bedroom is only that big?' But the way it worked out with the way it's built and put together, it really has a nice flow to it, it's very easy to get around and just put together very nicely."
Reuter said one of the nicest qualities of the houses is that they offer each fraternity or sorority its own residential community. Houses typically accommodate 36 to 40 residents and offer dining areas with a full-kitchen staff, a study, an office and at least one patio or terrace for outdoor gatherings.
"They eat in the house; they meet in the house," Reuter said. He also said nine sororities still have space in South Tower. No fraternities currently occupy space in both the Greek Village and McBryde. As a result, he said, rush activities have been more consolidated in one location or the other this year.
The final two houses for Alpha Delta Pi and Kappa Sigma are scheduled to open in January.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Threaded Mode