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In SOU's dorms, not a creature is stirring That's an exaggeration, but residence halls are emptier than usual this Christmas By Dani Dodge of the Mail Tribune ASHLAND -- For the past two years, resident assistant Joe Walker spent his Christmas cooking turkey, ham, pies and cakes for the 15 or 20 Southern Oregon University students stuck in the dorms for the holidays. This year, though, he's just walking empty halls. "They've been bleeding out all week," Walker, 26, said. "Students had plans about where to go and stay ... with the last big fling of the century coming, they don't want to spend it in the residence hall by themselves." Normally, about a thousand students live in the dorms at SOU. But after finals each year, most take off to be with their families for the holidays. Some join host families for Christmas cheer and eggnog. International students who can't afford to fly back across the seas sometimes travel to see sights in the United States. Others hit the slopes of Bachelor, Baker and Hood. A number of students said they were going to San Francisco, Portland and even San Diego to party this winter break, said Cheri Donahoo, an accountant in the university's housing office. Only about 90 students even applied to keep keys to the dorms during the winter break. But by the end of the week, only two students were even checking for mail at the main office. "It's pretty lonely here," Chris Angel said Thursday. The 18-year-old freshman was planning to fly back home to Hawaii Christmas Eve. "There's nobody around so I just cook and watch movies." He had planned to stay in the States for the holidays, but then his father told him how much his mother missed him. His folks found a good deal on a plane ticket and he was on his way -- even though the discount price means he'll be leaving Hawaii at 10 p.m. New Year's Eve. "A lot of people are going to the islands for the millennium, so to get the reduced fair I have to come back then," Angel said. Another dorm resident, David Arellano from Guanajuato, Mexico, will spend Christmas Day with his friend's family in Jacksonville. "I wanted to stay here and get the whole experience," Arellano, 24, said Thursday as he prepared to leave for the weekend. Four years ago, Arellano's friend, Jared Rennie, 23, visited Arellano and his family in Mexico for the holidays. They had turkey, enchiladas and cactus leaves with mole sauce to celebrate. They followed Mexican tradition and stayed up until midnight on Christmas Eve, sang a song to baby Jesus, and then opened presents. Then they hung out with extended family, socializing until dawn. When Arellano started looking for a graduate school, one reason he decided to come to Ashland was because his good friend was attending SOU. "And now I'm going to subject him to my family," Rennie joked. So Arellano is eating turkey again, but this time it is accompanied by stuffing and potatoes and gingerbread and sugar cookies. "He's one of the family," Rennie said. "Sometimes I think they like him better than they like me." It will be Arellano's first Christmas away from his family. "My mom doesn't like it, but she was the first to encourage me to come," Arellano said. "I'm going to miss the food. But I'm not really lonely for my family yet. I'm not that sensitive, really." Walker, who stays in the halls as part of his job, hasn't had a Christmas with his family in Sacramento for three years. "We were fortunate the last two years that enough people were here to do Christmas dinner," Walker said. "But I went around checking this year and the general consensus is `we are all gone.' "At the most, there were going to be two other people here and even the two people staying said they already had plans." But Walker won't have to hum Christmas carols to himself. His boss invited him to share Christmas dinner with her and her family. But then he'll have to be back to the dorm by 7 p.m. Doing his rounds. Checking doors. Tapping out a lonely Christmas cadence in the empty halls. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA