PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JACOB KONST/Arizona Daily Wildcat Undeclared freshman Michael Slugocki sweats it out in Cochise Residence Hall yesterday evening. Residents of various dorms are currently passing around petitions to have the temperature lowered.

Petitions are circling around campus residence halls by residents who want to break the sweat and turn off residence hall heating systems before March.

Before the temperature system can be adjusted, Residence Life requires at least 50 percent of the hall to sign a majority rules petition.

Doug Copeland, graduate hall director of Cochise Residence Hall, said petitions usually go around during both summer and winter in the hall because students want to feel as comfortable as possible.

When the air conditioning gets too much to handle come December or January and the heat in March or April, students have the ultimate say by starting a petition in their dorms where a majority vote can switch the dials to a cooler or hotter setting.

Copeland said a majority-half of the residents plus one additional student-allows students to get their say in Cochise. But, he said once the air or heat is turned off, it costs a lot of money and is a headache for the residence halls to turn it back on.

Copeland said the level of comfort differs for every student, with some wanting extremes of cold or warm.

"They feel, since they're aren't essentially paying an electric bill every month, they can crank the A/C dial to the highest setting in the summer when it's scorching outside and then crank the dial up to high when we turn the heat on during the winter," Copeland said.

Sarah Werner, a resident of Arizona-Sonora Residence Hall, said the temperature in her room is controlled, "by the people downstairs."

Werner said with the heat already been turned off in her dorm, it makes adding extra layers of clothing the only means to stay warm.

"Right now I'm freezing, but since we have no heat in the dorm and only A/C, I can't do anything about it except put a sweatshirt on," said Werner, a sociology freshman.

Copeland said it all depends where a student is living in the dorms as far as directional location and what floor they are on.

He said, for example, someone living on the east side of the building and on a higher floor of the residence hall is going to be hot because the sun shines directly into their room and because they are up so high, making the student want to ask for the air conditioning to be turned back on.

Students living in Cochise have a temperature setting where they can move the dial to a low, medium or high setting, only controlling either the air conditioning or the heat the dorm is set at.

"The vent blows either hot or cold air," Copeland said.

However, Michael Slugocki, a resident of Cochise Resident Hall, said he is comfortable in the dorm now because he usually keeps the windows open most of the time instead of putting on the heat.

Slugocki, an undeclared freshman, said the heat is too overwhelming at times so he signed the petition to turn the heat off.

"It is too hot in here sometimes though, so I did sign the petition," Slugocki said.

Copeland said making rash decisions to turn the heat off in the winter is not always the best for everyone who does not agree with the majority opinion of the residence hall.

"Students usually want the extreme to get the heat on or the air on without thinking it through first," Copeland said. "They can usually just turn off the temperature setting in their dorm room and bring in a fan."

Students living in Gila Residence Hall also do not have their own heat and air conditioning settings in their rooms, but rather the low, medium and high setting.

Catherine Botelho, graduate hall director of Gila, said a two-thirds majority vote and the OK of Botelho allows maintenance and the residence hall to accommodate students who want the heat or air on.

"All students need to do is put down their name and room number and we try to accommodate their needs, so long as everyone else agrees with them," Botelho said.

Geoff Balon, a resident of Gila Resident Hall, said the heat is still on in his hall, which he says is uncomfortable for him and other residents living around him, but said opening a window for ventilation suffices rather than signing the petition.

"Most of the time it gets too hot in the dorm, so I just open a window. It's always nice to get some fresh air into the dorm since it's so small," said Balon, a psychology freshman.

Julia Tenen, a resident of Maricopa Residence Hall, also said living in the residence halls with the heat on is uncomfortable.

Tenen, an anthropology sophomore, said this is her second year living on campus and said turning the dial off completely instead of resorting to petitioning everyone in the residence hall conveniences those who want it on still.

"Just turn the whole system off and everything is OK," Tenen said. "The best form of ventilation is just opening up a window."

Tenen said the residence halls should have temperature gauges with degree settings instead of low, medium and high.

"Everyone complains when the heat is on," Tenen said. "We should have our own air conditioning and heat units in our rooms, but I don't know if that's feasible."