Roommate Conflicts

As September passed, students on Michigan State University's campus began to settle in to the environment and "show their true colors." 

Between screaming matches, language barriers, and party hard roommates; the girls of East Shaw Hall had plenty to complain about, and complain they did. 

Resident Mentor Maria Lipari has only dealt with five conflicts during her three years of mentoring she said, but that all changed this year. 

As the first semester is coming to a close, Lipari has already dealt with about three unrelated instances of roommate conflicts, but students may wonder whether her laid back attitude is due to lack of interest or just an interesting way of handling conflict. 

Students go to their mentors for many reasons, but when there is a roommate conflict, it is usually best to just stay out of it, said Lipari. 

Despite her nonchalant demeanor, Brynne Ewing said that Lipari handled the situation well when it came to her roommate conflict situation by trying to mediate conversations, which eventually led to a room swap between seven different residents. 

Transitional Housing made trying to find new rooms difficult for Lipari's residents, but after deciding to swap roommates between three separate rooms, the situation had been resolved, at least for the time being. 

The fact that virtually no rooms are open according to MSU's Housing Office begs the question, why did this happen and why are students spending so much money on housing costs when they are stuck in uncomfortable situations if they do not get along well with their roommates?