Edit: As of January 2011- the lock out no longer applies and we can sorta have guests. If they are related and can only stay for a little and cannot go to your room.
They said they’d be doing something with the cameras, but I’ve been here watching them do nothing. [End of line]
It hasn’t been a month, and there’s a lot for me to say about this dorm. First, let me start off with the Image of Zelkova House:
“hey where do you live?” “Oh I live in Zelkova House.” …pause… “oh, you mean that prison? I’m sorry.”
1. The rules: The worst part of Zelkova
-Zelkova House is the newest of all the dorms and also the strictest. It is the only one with a curfew that you MUST follow: 11:30 on the dot, you get locked out/locked in. The other dorms have a lot more leniency and represent more of what I feel a university life should be. The curfew itself shouldn’t be too much of a problem if you plan on interacting with only people from the dorm, but try having a life when you have to worry about getting locked out of your home if you’re not back before 11:30. It may seem reasonable on paper, but I’ve found myself out of breath and exhausted making it back at 11:29PM. There are also the unlucky ones as well.
-If the curfew wasn’t bad enough, try having NO guests whatsoever. Even with all the security, they don’t want guests- not even in the common lounge area. They have cameras, they know who goes in and out of the building: This has pissed off a bunch of people and is one of the reasons why Zelkova had a not-so-positive image among ICU students.
-The key card: you need this- otherwise you get locked out. Even moving about the inside of Zelkova, you need it. If there is no data of you leaving the dorm- you get locked out, even if you have your card with you. So errors and accidentally leaving with a group of friends might cause some trouble. On Sunday I was woken up because my friend next door couldn’t leave the lounge area even though he had his key. Also, you have to put your keycard into this slot for the lights in your room to work and certain outlets for any juice to flow. The AC turns off without the card as well.
-Banned appliances: Game consoles, full length mirrors, your own lamp, and other ridiculous things. Everything else you need permission for… why? ask someone else.
-Floor: whichever floor you end up on, that’s the floor you stay on. So males on the 1st floor can’t go up to the 2nd or 3rd floors. Okay, sounds reasonable. How about the girls on the 2nd and 3rd floors? can they visit each other? Nope.
2.Kitchen: small, but works for me
-The kitchen is equipped with just about every thing you need for your basic meals. You’re not allowed to have your own rice cooker or electric appliances but that hasn’t posed a problem for me yet. In return they provided plates, cups, frying pans, pots, utensils, etc. Now, the kitchen itself is big, but when you divide the area by 30… it doesn’t feel that big. Once september rolls around, they’re gonna fill up the spaces in the empty rooms and there will be 42 per floor…. I don’t want to think about it.
3. The rooms: spacious enough for 2.
-Every room here is a double. The layout ensures enough privacy and everything locks. There’s more than enough closet space for just about anyone. The people are good at ICU so the chances you end up with a bad roommate is slim in my opinion.
4. Bathrooms:
-very nice. there’s 2 showers and 4 toilets for every group of 17. There’s even a flush sound device. Incase you’re self conscious of people hearing your business. So far there aren’t any problems with the time conflicts and showers, but like I’ve mentioned earlier, September…
-The showers are kinda weird. You push a button and for about 2o seconds, water comes out, and you have to push the button again. It feels like I’m living in a youth hostel. But I guess it’s been effective in cutting down average shower times. It takes some getting used to. I just use my elbow.
5. Did I mention the CCTV’s that weren’t mentioned in the booklet when I was applying? Yeah. They’re not only at the entrance, but inside the dorm as well. Obviously None in the rooms, but in all Seriousness- as if the security weren’t strict enough.
6. Oh, and no WiFi.
Normally I’d put some kind of closing statement here to summarize my thoughts for you, but I think you get the point here.
Rei Y D 
April 25th, 2010 at 10:10 am
Dude that sucks. You live in prison. I’d kill myself if I lived there. You should come visit me in Michigan. You can do whatever the hell you want. Come back at ungodly hours, have guests, go anywhere you want, spend the night in a girls room(done it), have any electronics you want(other than microwaves and toasters, anything else is fair game) etc.
April 26th, 2010 at 2:29 am
What kind of action are you students taking to address such a strict security system? I am sure you guys are voicing your concern to the school officials. This is way over the top as far as the security system for a school is concerned. What is the school protecting with it? You students? The Princess who may or may not stay in the dorm? Or are you guys just gunea pigs for a security system that the school got for free????
April 26th, 2010 at 11:15 am
it’s absolutely ridiculous and big brother-esque of ICU to enforce such rules on you guys. first off, it’s not like you CHOSE this place, you were selected as people who were “lucky” to get an on-campus room. if it’s strict in this dorm, then they have to maintain the same protocols for ALL campus housing… otherwise, it’s segregation and discrimination if you want to go there. secondly, WTF?! isn’t ICU like in the middle of NOWHERE?! i highly doubt that anything bad will happen that far into campus area… i’m getting infuriated just thinking of your situation. it truly is a prison, now that you mention it. goodness!
July 8th, 2014 at 11:51 pm
I wish I saw this article before I applied for the Zelkova dorm as my first choice. Nevertheless, thank you very much for the detailed description of it!!
July 11th, 2014 at 8:09 am
It’s no problem.
I have been saying this and will say it again. I am part of the first group of people to move in, so the rules applied were somewhat new and probably the strictest they will ever have been. Part of the problem was a lack of communication on behalf of the administration in properly telling us about them. Needless to say many of us were mad that they would actually lock kids out in the cold and confiscate wireless routers. Much has changed since then.