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news
Dorms stay open
By Sarah Langford
Online Forty-Niner
While the rest
of campus was closed, the dorms at Cal State Long Beach remained
open to residents and continued to function in as normal a
manner possible Tuesday, given the disastrous events of the
morning.
Residence Commons
coordinator Roshan Jayasinghe said he received a call from
the CSULB President's Office shortly before 11 a.m. informing
him that the campus had been closed, but that Residence and
Parkside Commons were to remain open and operating for the
students and faculty in residence.
"The Chancel-lor's
Office closed all of the campuses in the California State
University system," Jay-asinghe said. "The dorms
are open, however, because so many of our residents are from
out of town, state and even country, and they would have no
place to go if they were forced to leave."
Residents in the
dorms spent the morning glued to their televisions. Some wept
as they watched the horrifying collapse of the World Trade
Center in New York unfold on their screens, and others got
on the phone to connect with loved ones. While some that live
locally entertained the idea of going home, most took one
glance outside at the traffic on campus and decided against
leaving the dorms.
"I'm glad
I live in the dorms so that I don't have to deal with traffic,"
said sophomore Tawny Palovchik, a resident of Parkside Commons.
"At first I was worried about staying when the rest of
campus was closed, but then I realized that it is probably
safer to stay in one place right now than to try and fight
traffic getting home."
Sophomore Marcia
Chastain, also of Parkside Commons, expressed similar concerns
about traffic.
"I have to
go to work in Signal Hill later on today," she said.
"I hope by then there will be fewer people leaving school
and work to go home, so I won't get stuck in a lot of traffic."
Jayasinghe said
he and his staff are doing everything in their power to keep
residents calm and the dorms running smoothly. The dining
halls were open for regular hours Tuesday and maintenance
crews performed their normal duties, in addition to making
extra checks for safety on the buildings in and near the dorms.
"Some Resident
Assistants are organizing activities within their buildings
to keep students' minds off things and stay positive,"
Jayasinghe said. "I just know that if we panic, it will
just feed into the frenzy, and that is the last thing we want."
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