Giles
From Duke Wiki
| Giles | |
|---|---|
 Giles Dormitory in winter. | |
| Campus | East |
| Neighborhood | East 2 |
| Air Conditioning? | No |
| Faculty in Residence | John L. Jackson, Jr. |
Giles, also known as G-Unit and "the G-Spot", is a dormitory in the East 2 Neighborhood. It is located on the Main Quad of East Campus, and arguably has the best location, being in close vicinity to Lilly Library, the Marketplace, the East Campus Bus Stop, and Brodie Gym. It was named for the first three female graduates of Trinity College, Theresa, Mary, and Persis Giles.
[edit] Inside the Dorm
Each room in Giles comes with two of the following: desk, desk chair, bed with half loft, three-drawer bureau, bookshelf, and cabinet. A popular setup in the 05-06 year was placing the bookshelf on top of the desk, but much variation was seen. Having the half lofts meant that full lofts could not be used in the dorm, but all of the other articles in the room could easily fit under the half loft, thus increasing the space available in the room. The half lofts could also be stacked to form bunk beds.
There is great variation in the room sizes in Giles. Doubles in the corners of the U-shaped hallways boast about 230 square feet of space. Most doubles other than these have on the average 180 square feet of space. Most rooms also have two walk-in closets, while others have one much larger walk-in. Some doubles on the first and second floors have three closets.
The common room in Giles contains a multitude of couches, some tables, a piano, a television, and a busted ping pong table. The laundry room is on the second floor, and a "study room" is located on the third floor. The first floor contains a kitchen complete with vending machines, a refrigerator, a sink, a microwave, and a stove. The third floor has two kitchens.
[edit] The 2005-2006 school year
The Arts in Contemporary Society FOCUS was housed in Giles.
Giles received an interior makeover before the beginning of the school year. Blue carpeting was installed, and the walls were painted a burnt orange/brown color. The combination of the two make the hallways seem rather dark when compared to other dorms.
One Saturday night at 4 a.m. during the second semester of the year, the common room and kitchen were vandalized. Paintings were torn clean from the walls, foodstuffs from the fridge were removed and tossed on the walls, and papers were placed in the oven, the oven was turned on, and the fire extinguishers were hidden. The culprit of this vandalism was never caught; instead, every resident of Giles was charged for the damage. Additionally, for a period of time during the semester, the dorm was put on "lock-down," meaning that only Giles residents could use their DukeCards to access the dorm. The Giles House Council's assets were also frozen, preventing them from making the purchase of a brand new ping-pong table.
For the entirety of the school year, Giles did not have a bench. Despite the constant pleas from residents, the House Council never made the full-on effort to buy supplies and build one. Instead, the House Council money, when it was able to be used again at the end of second semester, was used to buy a lot of pizza and soda and chips and hamburgers and hot dogs, and a few get-togethers were had during the last week of classes and during finals.
