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This is the second in a series of profiles by Jeremy Castillo spotlighting unusual and interesting jobs around the Moscow area.
It’s a little after 2 a.m. on Sunday morning. Melting snow covers the navigable paths around the residence halls. The temperature is slightly above freezing with only mild wind chill.
Most students are warm and sleeping comfortably indoors. That's not the case for Tonya Rugg, the graveyard shift (2-7 a.m.) attendant at the Living Learning Community's 24-hour information desk.
The LLC lobby is as quiet as the outside, so much so that Rugg's keystrokes are audible from several feet away. Studying, surfing the Internet, and reading science-fiction novels help her pass the time. She doesn't expect to see very many people before work ends.
"Maybe two or three people come to get temporary lockout cards," Rugg said. "A lot of drunk people walk through to get to their building but people who come to me went out for a minute and forget their keys."
Isolation is part of her job but she doesn't mind. The quiet provides Rugg, a mathematics major considering adding electrical engineering and computer science to her plate, a distraction-free environment to study. Plus, working during the wee hours fits her lifestyle.
"I don't party but I am a night person," Rugg said. "And I don't do mornings well."
Rugg lives Hays Hall in the Wallace Residence Center but her keeping odd hours hasn't created conflict with her roommates.
"I haven't heard anything negative," she said. "But I try hard to be very quiet because I don't like to be woken up early in the morning."
Krystina Vangutman, who works the graveyard shift on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday mornings, has an equally passive situation with the women she lives with.
"My roommate, Katie, spends most of her time with her boyfriend. But she feels bad about me having to work so late," Vangutman said before commenting she's lucky the bathroom is on her side of the suite. "I don't have to worry about waking up my suitemates."
Still, working odd hours can make getting regular rest a hassle.
"My sleep patterns are messed up extremely," said Rugg, who also spends works at the information desk in the Wallace Basement two nights and one morning per week. "But I get five to eight hours a night on average."
Vangutman has early morning classes, some only a half-hour after she gets off work, but manages to meet her own sleep requirements by napping in the afternoons.
Linda Hanson, student services coordinator for University Residences, is responsible for hiring desk attendants. She makes sure applicants can handle the odd hours, even sometimes discouraging them from taking the position.
"It takes a special person to work that shift," Hanson said. "We can place people (at the desk) at any time but they have to specify 'I want to work the graveyard shift.' "
Other than someone who can stay "awake and alert" at 2 a.m., Hanson looks for the same qualifications in every applicant: knowledge of the campus community, a willingness to serve others and good listening skills among others.
She also makes every desk attendant, no matter what time of day they work, follow the same rules. No one can leave the desk during a shift and everyone adheres to the same dress code: t-shirts and jeans are fine, but no slippers, pajamas, or sweats, even if they're Vandal Gear.
Being a desk attendant is fairly easy, Vangutman and Rugg agree, though there are aspects of it no one sees.
"There's more to the job than I thought. When people ask for their keys, we have to make sure people are who they say they are (for security reasons)," Vangutman said. "I didn't grow up with murder and robbery and didn't think people did that but we have to keep an eye out for that."
Rugg said it's surprising to others "how many people actually get locked out of their housing" but hasn't experienced an intense night at work yet.
Vangutman has a different story. She was working the night a snowstorm wiped out power throughout the residence halls. Once the blackout hit, it was a stream of calls dealing with fire alarms going off, elevators breaking down, and card swiper batteries going dead.
The storm eventually let up and life at the help desk continued as it does 365 days out of the year. Hanson said only fire alarm-related evacuations close the desk. Vangutman staffed the desk overnight on New Year's Day without much fanfare.
"I thought people would come in drunk or there'd be more people locked out after coming home from a party but it was pretty empty," she said.
Hanson said the desk remains open year-round as a service to residents. You can still get locked out of your room on Christmas Eve or lose your keys during summer.
There's a sign-up sheet for people to work during extended breaks and worker availability dips after springtime finals. Hanson said a number of her workers leave for summer because their parents want them home or because there's a higher-paying job waiting for them. She compensates by giving full-time or longer part-time hours (10-25 per week) to summertime attendants.
But despite lower staff numbers during summer, Hanson said she's been lucky with low employee turnover for the past six year's she's worked for University Residences.
"I've been able to retain students for all of their college careers, whether it is four or five years," Hanson said. "A lot of times when employees leave it's when they've met their graduation requirements and they're ready to move on."
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