As college juniors, Cherisse and Bryan were first-year resident assistants in a student dormitory. Their jobs provided them with a way to earn free room and food, as well as the opportunity to explore a human relations career. More than 100 new RAs were selected after a long interview process, and they participated in three weeks of training before the dorms actually opened. After Cherisse and Bryan were assigned to a third-floor hall, they worked together to orient freshmen and to welcome back returning sophomores. During the opening weeks, they encountered a number of complaints, but nothing that was difficult to resolve. The residents in room 26 argued over music choices and those in room 17 complained about noise in the hallways. Cherisse and Bryan knew from their training that the third week of the new semester marks a predictable time for differences to erupt among freshmen in the dorm. They were warned to pay careful attention to building tensions among roommates and to encourage residents to deal with their differences before they got out of hand. By the fourth week things had heated up. Marnie asked for a transfer because her roommate, Pamela, never stayed in the room, and Marnie felt isolated. Pamela complained that Marnie was " hanging on me " and she wanted to be with her hometown friends, who were in another dorm. Adam and Nick almost came to blows because Adam, a serious pre med student, claimed Nick regularly came back to their room loudly at 2 or 3 A.M., called his friends, and kept Adam awake. When Adam complained, Nick swore at him. Molly and Sumi argued constantly because Sumi claimed Molly was a total slob Five rooms at the end of the hall submitted a petition to limit the constant loud music coming from a room across the courtyard. Cherisse and Bryan held discussions individually and together with these residents In one discussion, Cherisse explained to Marnie and Pamela that, according to university regulations, they had to remain together for the first eight weeks and that finding different space in the dorm for Marnie would be difficult. Cherisse encouraged Marnie and Pamela to talk about their feelings. Marnie said she had looked forward to having a roommate who would be a good friend and she felt rejected by Pamela. Pamela said she wanted to be with her high school friends but she felt pressured by Marnie to do things together. The three women discussed some ways to resolve this situation, at least for the next four weeks. The roommates talked about having dinner together in the cafeteria once a week, and Pamela as Marnie if she wanted to go to a weekly volunteer tutoring program with Pamela and her friends. Marnie agreed and asked if Cherisse would help her connect to some other people in the dorm. Bryan held a number of discussions with Adam and Nick explaining that they had to find or a way to work out their problems. They discussed how Nick could make phone calls in the lounge. Nick said Adam could wear earplugs, as some of the other residents did. Bryan told Nick he would have to talk with a campus counselor or Nick would be asked to leave student housing. Bryan also talked with Molly and Sumi about their room. Sumi described how depressing it was to enter such a pigpen every day, and Molly talked about how she hated feeling guilty every time she left a shirt on the floor. They discussed options, such as totally separating the space or having a cleaning hour twice a week. Both Cherisse and Bryan met with the residents across the courtyard and with their RAs to discuss the disturbance they were creating with their loud music. Within an hour they came up with several strategies to resolve the problem to everyone's satisfaction.