KEVIN KLAUS

Sociology freshman Allie Diaz converses on her cell phone yesterday inside a renovated lounge room at Yuma Residence Hall, where she is currently residing. Although many people who live in the lounges are moving out, Diaz and her four roommates would prefer to stay for at least the rest of the semester.

Friday August 31, 2001

Res Life placing housing focus on students still living in hotels

Though the UA's current housing crunch initially seemed to be a major problem, many students forced to live in converted dorm lounges and study rooms actually find they enjoy their accommodations.

"It's huge," said Suzanne Clifton, a business freshman.

Clifton lives in a converted lounge in Yuma Residence Hall with four other women.

Clifton and her roommates have divided the large room with standing partitions draped with colorful scarves. Beds and desks line the walls, and a couch and recliner sit in the middle of the room.

"They (the couch and chair) were in here," Clifton said. "The couch is great."

Jim Van Arsdel, director of Residence Life and University Housing, said several students have contacted his office requesting to continue living in the lounges.

Although neither Clifton nor her roommates have requested to remain in the lounge, they all agree that they would be happy to stay for the semester.

Living with more people than are typically assigned to a room has not caused conflict between Clifton and her roommates, she said.

"Everybody is really considerate of each other," said Clifton's roommate, sociology freshman Allie Diaz.

Another roommate, chemical engineering freshman Liese Beenken, said having more roommates means having more friends.

"There's always somebody to go out with," Beenken said.

"And if you want to stay in, there's always somebody here," Clifton added.

Many students situated in "guest apartments" on campus also seem satisfied to stay put.

Van Arsdel is not surprised.

"These are great places," he said.

Three residence halls on campus contain guest apartments. The rooms were originally designed to house guests of the university.

"A visiting scholar might stay in one," Van Arsdel said. "But that doesn't happen very often."

With housing space as scarce as it is, Van Arsdel said the guest apartments were easy to sacrifice in order to house displaced students.

Van Arsdel said one guest apartment in La Paz Residence Hall was slated for a resource center, but Residence Life moved the center to another location in order to house students in all available guest apartments.

As of Tuesday, 364 students were still living in alternative housing. Because many of these students are happy with their current housing situation, Van Arsdel said, "You have to discount those numbers somewhat."

Van Arsdel said he spends most of his time working on finding permanent placement for displaced students. Priority is on finding housing for the more than 50 women still living at the Four Points Sheraton, 1900 E. Speedway Blvd.

The 115 students sharing rooms with resident assistants will likely not be moved. Van Arsdel said the rooms will be shared "through the fall semester."

The housing shortage is due in part to the record number of freshmen attending the university. More than 6,000 freshmen began attending classes this fall. The university's normal housing capacity is 5,500, although not all freshmen live in dorms, and some older students choose to live there as well.

Construction plans for new dorms, known as the Highland District Project, are still in motion. The site will contain three new residence halls, each housing 250 students. Completion is scheduled for 2003.

"We're well on our way to building more housing for undergrads," Van Arsdel said.