But alternatives are springing up. Dotting the landscape here and there are places to live where you can continue to grow while maintaining a presence on what may seem a mostly God-free campus. One of the most notable options to date is a dormitory brought to life by a state college, funded by public money. Maple Hall, on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, is home to nearly 500 students. Most are freshmen, though upperclassmen constitute around 25 percent of the dorm population.
Students arrive knowing there are zero-tolerance rules on drinking and smoking in the dorm.
And even though men and women live there, there s also a curfew 1 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends when the opposite sexes must go their opposite ways. Last year critics lampooned the university for coming up with such a restrictive housing alternative. But come this year, the residence life team was vindicated. Nearly 1,200 freshmen asked to live there. They could only take 400.