The Campaign to Save Ball Hall

Meet Jen Shoemaker ‘08, an organizational communication major from Apalachin, NY. Those of you who were at reunion this summer may remember her; she was driving folks around in golf carts (and also owning the dance floor with a few of our more rhythmically talented alumni).

Many of you have asked what the new dorm rooms in Ball look like, and Jen was kind enough to put her room in the spotlight for us.

See more photos here.

And now for an interview with Jen, our wonderful hostess:

Jen, your room seems so clean; do you actually live in it? Is this typical of college students in the 21st century?

Well, yeah I live in it. I’m just very organized, I like it clean … a clean room is a happy room, you know. I would say it’s definitely not typical of other students.

How many other people do you share your room with? Is the new space cramped at all?

I share it with two of my friends, and our room is pretty well spaced out, I’d say. The new closet space is really nice. When I lived in Ball before, it was dirty–which drove me nuts–the furniture didn’t match, and each room was a completely different size. Some people were in a room that was literally the size of a closet; I was lucky to be in a room that was the size of the alumni lounge … it didn’t make much sense or seem fair. The new rooms are a breath of fresh air.

There’s still some construction going on around Ball. How much of that do you hear in your room?

They’re still working on landscaping outside and laying down the new sidewalks, so there’s a lot of noise — especially when they’re breaking the sidewalks up. As far as the noise in the morning, it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be — we can at least sleep until 6:30 or 7, ha-ha.

Anything else you’d like to share with the world? This is going on the Internet, you know. The world may be reading … but hey, no pressure.

I definitely feel lucky to live in Ball Hall, especially during the construction while history is being made. In the summer, it’s really great because of the air conditioning; it’s been nice and warm in there this fall, too. The heaters are brand new, so they work.

Okay, last question: Halloween was a few days ago. Any run-ins with George?

I haven’t had any run-ins with the alleged Ball Hall ghost, but my dad has. He was alone in the elevator and heard a male voice say “go for it” three times. To this day, he still won’t go in the elevator.

It’s such a lovely day here; the sun is finally shining and it’s not snowing. Also, many of our alumni are on campus for the Center for Experiential Learning’s Backpack to Briefcase event. In honor of it being an awesome day, we’re going to give some stuff away.

No. We’re not pulling an Oprah and giving away free wheels. Instead, we’re going to give away some cool The Campaign to Save Ball Hall bookmarks. Said lovely bookmarks were created by our very own Christen Smith, associate director of communications. The bookmark is laminated, in full color, and sports a nifty photo of Ball Hall on the front. It’s the perfect tool for, say, marking the page you last read in your book. You could possibly also use it to make toast, though I’m not quite sure how you’d go about doing that.

Anyway–if you want one of these bookmarks, drop an e-mail to webmaster@mail.keuka.edu by Monday, March 12 at noon. Please be sure to include your name and mailing address so we know where to send it. If you’re on campus, let me know the department you work in or your D-box number.

– Pete

Tags: free, bookmark, books, keuka, college, keuka college, ball hall

Victory is ours! For those of us “cellar dwellers” (people who work in the basement of Ball) who have an addiction to chilled caffeinated beverages, B.J. Jayne, the new Ball Hall Campaign Coordinator, presents to you our easily accessible caffeination station. Located between the men’s and women’s rooms, the machine is prepared to offer you deliciously chilled beverages in exchange for various forms of currency. They don’t have that anywhere else. (Well, actually, they do. But they don’t have our exact machine because clearly, that’s a violation of every known law of physics. Plus, we have B.J. Jayne, the new Ball Hall Campaign Coordinator. In case you can’t tell, I’m trying to introduce you to B.J. Jayne, the new Ball Hall Campaign Coordinator.)

– Pete