Works Cited

Devillers, Julia. The College Dorm Survival Guide: How to Survive and Thrive in Your New Home Away from Home. New York: Three Rivers Press. 2006

Hermann, William. “ASU Can’t Meet Demands for Dorms”. The Arizona Republic. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/docview/238901179. 20 October 2012.

Lynn, Mellenthien. Fatigue in College Freshman. Indianapolis: Marian University. 2009.

Verone, Trevor. Personal. 19 October 2012.

Zarnow, Teryl. “Finding college housing not what it used to be”. The Orange County Register. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/apartment-86624-husband-son.html. 20 October 2012.

Palo Verde Main

[Source: Dane Fernandez]

[Source: Dane Fernandez]

Another place within the Palo Verde community is Palo Verde Main building. Palo Verde Main is a dormitory building where students live. Most of the students who live in Palo Verde Main are engineering students in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. As with Palo Verde East the dorm rooms in Palo Verde main are fairly similar. The rooms are kind of small and you also have to share a bathroom with three other people, which is not that bad considering they could be community bathrooms. Palo Verde Main is one of the older buildings in the Palo Verde community because it was built in the 1950s and thus has been used by generations of students. Therefore, students who live a Palo Verde Main will find it very unfortunate because the building is so old. Like with anything the newer something is the better it is, just like how the Hassayampa dorms at ASU are considered nicer because it is are newer residential hall and in our case since Palo Verde Main is so old therefore it is not very nice. One of the few advantages with living at Palo Verde Main is that you have a convenient place to eat. Within Palo Verde Main there is Devil’s Diner, Devil’s Greens, and a POD market. For the most part the food is not that bad at all of these establishments, but what the Palo Verde community lacks is a true dining hall where it is more of a buffet style of dining.  DeVillers states, “Everyone knows dining halls aren’t just about the food. They’re a place where you can spend time, get to know people, and socialize” (DeVillers, 171).  The dining hall is a very important to the residential community and is essential to a healthy social environment in college.  Also, dining halls seems to be very popular among students because you can eat as much as you want compared to only being able to eat just one meal. Likewise, most students have a two meal plan where you can only have two meals a day so the dining hall becomes more popular because you have to eat while you can and get the most out of your meal plans. Overall, due to the fact that Palo Verde Main lacks a dining hall and the building is so old, it is harmful towards the ASU community.

 

 

 

University Bridge

[Source: Dane Fernandez]

Another place at Palo Verde is the University Bridge that connects Palo Verde with the rest of the Arizona State University campus. The bridge goes across University Drive and is a significant route for transportation for students and faculty to and from Palo Verde. The University Bridge was apparently designed by a chiropractor and is supposed to help strengthen your back muscles and possibly even cure back aches. Students who live at Palo Verde will benefit greatly from this because students probably go over that bridge at least two to three times a day. On the other hand the University Bridge can be at times fairly rough because it is a pretty tall bridge and some physical effort is required to go over it.  In Lynn Mellenthien’s thesis titled Fatigue in College Freshman, she states, “College freshman, those students that are 18 and 19 years old and living away from home for the first time, can be at risk for fatigue” (Mellenthiem, 2).  Therefore, going over this bridge everyday can increase the fatigue that college freshman experience in their first year of college.  Furthermore, students with physical disabilities will find it very inconvenient to cross University Drive because they will not be able to go over the bridge. Also, students who use a wheelchair as there source of transportation will automatically be disqualified from crossing the bridge because you have to walk up and down stairs. Furthermore, it would have been far more convenient to just have a crosswalk in place of where the bridge is because at least students with physical disabilities will be able to conveniently cross the street. Overall, the University Bridge is a great disadvantage on students who live at Palo Verde, and is harmful towards the Palo Verde community.

 

Palo Verde Lawn

[Source: Dane Fernandez]

Another place at Palo Verde is the Palo Verde lawn. The lawn is one of the few positives of living at Palo Verde. The lawn was recently put in at the start of the school year, so it is fairly new. The lawn brings a more environmental friendly feel to the Palo Verde community. The meaning behind this is that most of Palo Verde is concrete and buildings, and there also are not that many trees so having a big lawn connects the area and community to nature. Another reason why there is not a lot of greenery at Palo Verde is because Arizona State is one of the leading universities that are environmentally friendly and to be environmentally friendly you cannot have a lot of lawns because they require a great deal of water. Therefore, having a lawn near your dorm at Arizona State University can be seen as being very advantageous. There can be a lot of different uses for the lawn that are beneficial for students who live at Palo Verde.  The lawn serves as a great way for students to get involved with other students and faculty in Palo Verde.  In her novel DeVillers states, “It’s one thing to just live in the dorms and quite another to get involved in the life of this place where you’ll be living” (DeVillers, 195).  Students can use it for recreational use, such as playing intramural sports, having a picnic, tanning, hanging out with friends or relatives, the possibilities are endless. Also, students and faculty have used the lawn to hold events and demonstrations. For instance, before the blackout game against the University of Oregon Palo Verde had an event where students and relatives could come and get some free food. Traditionally, a lawn is a perfect spot to hold events like that, and students who live at Palo Verde will benefit greatly from the lawn because they will be able to go to the events and demonstrations that the University holds. Overall, the lawn is a great benefit for students at who live at Palo Verde and is a positive for the Palo Verde community.

 

Palo Verde East

\

[Source: Dane Fernandez]

            There are many residential halls within the Arizona State University community.  One of these residential halls is the Palo Verde East building.  It is a dormitory that can be found in Palo Verde.  It was built in the 1960s, so it is rather old and somewhat outdated.  It would not be as bad as a dorm if it were recently renovated or completely rebuilt like some of the other dorms on the ASU campus such as Manzanita Hall or the Hassayampa residential community. Furthermore, one of the disadvantages about living here is its seven stories tall and only has two elevators.  In my interview with Trevor Verone, who is a freshman in Business Communication and resident of Palo Verde East, he states, “The elevators tend to break down on a weekly basis, so students have to take the stairs a lot” (Verone).  For students living in the higher stories it can be kind of a hassle having to take the stairs, also if a student has any kind of handicapped where they can't use stairs they can be completely be blocked off from thier room.  In addition, the actual dorm rooms themselves are fairly average.  They seem to be pretty old and could use remodeling.  One positive is the bathroom situation, one shower and toilet is shared between four people.  This is not that bad considering that some dorms have community bathrooms where you have to share a bathroom with your whole floor.  Additionally, Verone states, “The air conditioning in the rooms are usually pretty bad, sometimes they do not work and it can get kind of hot especially at night” (Verone).  Having bad air conditioning especially here in Arizona where on average it can get up to ninety degrees outside is a great disadvantage.  The building also contains a Starbucks and a UPS store.  This is one of the few positives to living here because students can conveniently get coffee from Starbucks and get their mail from the UPS store.  Overall, the Palo Verde East building at Palo Verde is fairly unexceptional because of the living conditions that students have to go through and it adds to the harmfulness that Palo Verde has on the ASU community.

Synopsis

One of the key aspects of going to college is living in a dorm or residence hall. There can be many benefits and disadvantages for students to live in a dorm, however it is necessary for all college freshman to live in one. Overall, Palo Verde is an outdated residential community at Arizona State University and thus is harmful and not a good place to live for students. Palo Verde is a dorm and living area for students at Arizona State University. It consists of three dormitories which include Palo Verde East, Palo Verde West, and Palo Verde Main. Palo Verde is one of Arizona State University’s older dorms, it has been giving students a place to live since the 1950s and 1960s. Palo Verde has witnessed a lot of history since its opening and generations of students have lived there throughout the years. It is situated on the Northern end of campus and borders University Drive. It is very close to the Sun Devil stadium and the Wells Fargo arena so it is convenient to watch sporting events. Many of the students that live in the Palo Verde area are engineering students form the Ira Fulton School of Engineering, though there are also students in the WP Carey School of Business and students who are exploratory and have not yet chosen their major.
 

There are many dorms across the United States that are considered good and bad.  There are many factors that can make a dorm be considered good or bad.  One factor is how old the dorm is, in our case Palo Verde was established in the 1960s and seeing that the year is 2012 we can tell that it is pretty old.  Also, with old dorms there has been more usage of the rooms by people, so the older a dorm is the more it has been used.  For instance, if a dorm or residence hall is thirty, forty, or even fifty years old one could only imagine how many spills, accidents, and disasters students have committed in the dorm rooms over the years.  Furthermore, another factor is the location the dorm is on campus. Location is a key factor because it determines how convenient it is for students to get to certain areas on campus. In Julia DeVillers book The College Dorm Survival Guide she proclaims, “Your dorm location can have a surprisingly big impact on your daily routine” (DeVillers, 14).  Palo Verde’s location on the Arizona State University campus is not that good, for the most part wherever you want to go on campus you have to cross University Drive and there are not that many classes that are conveniently located if you live there. An additional factor that is to be considered is dining. Dining is a big factor when it comes to living in a dorm because every student has to eat.  DeVillers asserts, "For some people, the dining hall is the best place on campus. Food and friends! What’s better? For others, though, it can be uncomfortable" (DeVillers, 172).  A dorm that has good dining typically has a dining hall near or in the dormitory itself. Also, we must consider how good the food is at the dining hall and what kind of fashion the food is served in, meaning buffet or restaurant style. Another important factor is the bathroom situation in a dorm or residence hall.  DeVillers thinks of a bathroom as , "a community hub in many dorms— the place you’ll meet, greet, and take a seat with your fellow residents" (DeVillers, 62).  Traditionally when you think of a dorm in college you think of community bathrooms where you have to walk down the hall just to take a shower. However, there are also dorms where you only have to share a bathroom between two rooms and there are also other dorms where you only have to share a bathroom with just your roommate. Furthermore, unless you like to share bathrooms with people the obvious best case scenario would be to share a bathroom with your roommate. Those are some of the factors that can determine whether a dorm is considered good or bad; however there are many more that have not been mentioned.
 

Furthermore, Palo Verde has many places that reveal how good and bad it is. One of these places is the Palo Verde East building. It is one of the dorms you could live in at Palo Verde. This building is typically made up of engineering students. Another place at Palo Verde is the University lawn which is centered in the middle of Palo Verde. It is used by many students and people to relax and have fun.  An additional place is the bridge which connects Palo Verde with the rest of the Arizona State University campus. The bridge is used by students and people as a convenient way to cross University Drive. Finally, the Palo Verde main building is another place at Palo Verde. It is another dorm that you could live in besides Palo Verde East and Palo Verde West. It is made up of engineering students as well and it also encompasses several restaurants where students can eat at.
 

In conclusion, Palo Verde is one of the major resident options for students at Arizona State University. It has been a part of Arizona State University for around half a century and thus is very old and outdated.  Since Palo Verde is so old and outdated hopefully one day ASU may renovate or completely rebuild Palo Verde so it can be enjoyed by future students in the University.  However, as of right now Palo Verde is a bad place to live and harmful towards students and the ASU community.