way they can compete. Some have considered a simple middle ground: using a partial partition to serve as an intermediate boundary that could help define space and create visual privacy while still allowing students to build a relationship with their roommates. Place identity and sense of place are important psychological concepts that relate to having an emotional attachment to or special association with an environment. We can help strengthen these associations by giving students more control of their space: for example, furnishing rooms with furniture that can easily be moved and rearranged or allowing students to personalize their rooms in non-permanent ways. Although decorating options in residence halls are often limited, the use of tack strips and full-sized tack boards (which also help with acoustics) can help students establish place identity, and new high-tech vinyl wall coverings of various shapes and sizes can be removed without causing damage. According to William B. Hansen and Irwin Altman in their article “Decorating Personal Places, a Descriptive Analysis” that ran in Environment and Behavior Showers in HD... where students can be alone without becoming insular or seen as hiding out. This balancing act is critical to both residential life directors and architects. The easy answer is to give each student a suite with his/her own bedroom and private space. But do we give them want they want or what they need? Statistics show that freshmen living in single rooms are much more likely to drop out than those with roommates. They score lower on tests and feel less positive about their university experience. The bottom line is that living in singles is not especially good for them. At the same time, colleges and universities are competing to give students what they want. Some institutions are building new freshman residences with groups of single-room suites, feeling that this is the only Mackey Mitchell architects Meridian Solid Surface Durable | Renewable | Stain-Resistant Custom Shower Bases for Remodel Applications Standard Shower Bases Shower Wall Panels & Accessories MASSILLON,OHIO 330 . 837 . 2216 www.TowerShowers.com July + August 2012 29http://www.TowerShowers.com http://www.TowerShowers.com