Thursday October 25, 2001

Although the university is attempting to house the same number of freshmen next year as this year, officials say an anticipated 900 students will be displaced as a result of the shortage.

The displacement of freshmen is just one of the issues Residence Life officials said they would like to communicate to those attending a student/parent forum tomorrow.

"Under the existing policy, freshmen bear the brunt (of the shortage)," said Jim Van Arsdel, director of Residence Life and University Housing. "And freshmen are the most at-risk group on any university campus."

Van Arsdel said the university hopes to house at least as many freshmen as this year. He said he considers 100 freshmen living in temporary spaces acceptable and that freshmen displaced because of the shortage will likely move in with resident assistants.

Van Arsdel said the department exhausted every option before proposing to put a cap on the number of returning students allowed back into the dorms.

"This was like a last resort," he said. "Essentially, the only spaces left to turn to are the returning students' spaces."

He said that this year, 1,400 returning students live in the dorms. Next year, the number of spaces for returning students will be limited to 1,000.

Pamela Obando, associate director of marketing for Residence Life, said the forum will allow people a place to voice their ideas and opinions regarding the housing situation.

"The parents understand the need to accommodate incoming freshmen," she said. "But many of them are parents of freshmen right now, and they would like their son or daughter to be able to come back."

Both Obando and Van Arsdel encouraged parents and students to attend the meeting.

"If I were a parent, I would at least want to know that my voice was being heard," Van Arsdel said.