Pima dorm residents unaffected by policy changes

While residents in several other halls will soon feel the impact of a new policy by University of Arizona Residence Life officials, students who live in Pima will be unaffected.

The plan, announced Feb. 15 by Residence Life Director James Van Arsdel, states that Arizona-Sonora dorm rooms will all become triple-occupancy and Babcock building offices - formerly belonging to the English department - will begin housing students.

Despite the changes, which some consider to be unfair, Arizona-Sonora and Pima residents will pay the same fee next semester, $2,920, for their beds - a $119 increase from this year's rate.

Carly Horne, an education freshman, said she feels that Pima residents should pay more than Coronado students like herself.

"I don't think that it is justifiable for residents of Pima to pay the same amount of money we do in Coronado when they have newer and larger rooms," she said.

The current cost of living at Pima is the same as a double-occupancy room in Arizona-Sonora, Coronado and La Paz dorms, despite Pima's newer facilities and larger rooms.

"I think that having only two students per suite should be more expensive," said Maggie Burnett, a journalism sophomore. "They have a really nice lobby, study areas, big bathrooms and large suites."

Burnett said that Residence Life officials should take a closer look at Pima and add more residents to the hall's roster.

"I think that they should look at putting three people into each suite," she said. "We have three people in each of our rooms and their rooms are much larger."

Pima houses 57 female students most of whom are in the university's Honors Program, although the hall is not limited to honors students, Van Arsdel said.

Undecided freshman Laural Perry has been living in Pima since August.

"It's easier on me than a large residence hall," Perry said. "I went to a small high school and I find it easier to concentrate on work and bond with friends in Pima."

The structure, located at 1340 E. First Street, was originally built as the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity house, Van Arsdel said. The UA received the Arizona Board of Regents' approval Friday to finalize the purchase and connect an additional structure to Pima.

The building sits on university-owned land, and TKE gave Residence Life the first opportunity to buy the building, Van Arsdel said. The UA first approached the fraternity about buying the hall, but the agreement was mutual, he added.

"We are unsure what happened to the fraternity," Van Arsdel said. "We think they might have had financial problems."

While the building that houses the 57 Pima residents was constructed in 1982, Arizona-Sonora Residence Hall was completed in 1964 and houses more than 400 residents.

The Arizona-Sonora rooms were originally designed to house four students and the dorm is limited to students in the UA Honors Program.

Perry admitted that Pima residents should have to pay more.

"I would say we are spoiled over here and it really should cost more to live here," Perry said.

Students who live in Pima are mostly former Arizona-Sonora dorm residents who were given the option of Pima or living three-to-a-room, Van Arsdel said.

"I switched out of Arizona-Sonora when I found out we would be in triples," Perry said. "Nothing good ever comes in threes."

But Perry said she misses some of her previous dorm's better points.

"One advantage of Arizona-Sonora was the interaction with more people," Perry said. "Here (in Pima), the same 10 to 20 people show up to all activities and I would like to meet more people."