Res. Life scraps parts of dorm plan
UA Residence Life Director James Van Arsdel announced concessions Friday to a plan that could force some returning dorm residents to find alternate housing next semester.
Van Arsdel said last night that Residence Life plans to accommodate 1,190 returning students, but they will still have to participate in a lottery to avoid overflow.
The controversial lottery system jeopardizes the residency of University of Arizona sophomores, juniors and seniors who will have to rely on luck to remain on-campus in the fall.
"Otherwise, we would count and say 'oh my God, we're over,'" Van Arsdel said. "We can expect that we will have more than 1,190 who will want to sign up."
Because of student concerns, Van Arsdel also said Residence Life decided to hold the lottery this month instead of April. Residents removed after the lottery will be placed on a waiting list in hopes of cancellations.
A memo released by Van Arsdel Friday states that some students may also have to select a different dorm because halls will have limits as to how many residents may return.
The original plan, which would have reduced the number of beds available to returning students to accommodate the influx of freshmen, came under fire from UA dorm residents and members of the university's Residence Hall Association.
Van Arsdel was hit with questions and fiery complaints at an RHA meeting two weeks ago when he said that out of 1,190 spaces for returners, the amount would be reduced to 1,000, leaving about 200 students scrambling this semester to find alternate housing.
"Based on the feedback we have received, we now anticipate a number of changes," Van Arsdel wrote in the memo. "We have listened to all of these concerns and are working to respond to them."
However, the number of beds for returning residents will have to be cut starting in the fall semester of 2000, the memo states.
Still, some students may be forced off campus if more than 1,190 decide to remain in the dorms.
"Most of the response that I have heard is that it's something they can understand and live with," Van Arsdel said. "I'm trusting that that's true."
In response to the student outcry, UA President Peter Likins told students Thursday night that parts of Residence Life's plan would be amended.
But, Van Arsdel said Likins speech did not factor in to the decision, and the memo was written before the president's talk.
"Hopefully what he said...and what we are saying are very similar," Van Arsdel said.
Likins was unavailable for comment last night.
Dawn Morford, Residence Hall Association's vice president for programming, said the new ideas are a vast improvement.
"Cutting back is one thing," she said. "Eliminating completely is another."
RHA did not discuss the issue during its Thursday meeting, focusing instead on the presidential recall effort that has monopolized the organization for weeks.
But Morford said residents who are excluded by the lottery will be hurt regardless of modifications to Residence Life's plan.
"Even if a few students are eliminated, they're not going to be that happy, but it's what has to be done," she said. "Unfortunately, that's the only thing they're going to be able to do."
Accommodating a rush of incoming freshmen still plagues Residence Life, since the university guarantees housing to students who apply by the May 1 deadline. Van Arsdel said Residence Life never considered changing that part of the existing policy.
"I must tell you, though, that one key issue that has not changed is the need to address the balance between freshmen and older students in the residence halls and the documented need for more freshmen space," Van Arsdel states in the memo.
Read past Wildcat articles for a chronology of the freshman-housing controversy:
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