It was the start of a new semester, students were returningto the familiar routine of classes, schoolwork, and lack of sleep after a longwinter recess, and newcomers were entering the doors of Stony Brook withanticipation and excitement.
But for some, their new Stony Brook home was a little morecrowded than expected, and the parking lots were a little fuller. Soon, manyrealized that their lounges had been converted into rooms that housed betweentwo to four people.
‘?The extra residents on my floor did not reallyincrease the amount of work I had to do, in terms of checking in residents bymuch at all,’ resident assistant Jasleen Kaur said.
Kaur works in Langmuir College, one of the residence hallswith converted lounge rooms.
Assistant Vice President of Campus Residences Dallas Baumansaid that there were very few complaints from students and parents, and thatall lounge residents were extremely cooperative with Campus Residences.
None of the former residents of the converted lounges couldbe reached for comment. But some residents who lived in traditional housing inoverflow buildings said they felt robbed of their lounge space, which is oftenused by students for study or recreation.
‘?I needed the lounge to concentrate when my roommateis on the phone, watching television, and typing away on the computer,’said freshman Klara Kosovsky.
Some may wonder why Campus Residences personnel failed tohalt room assignments once they saw that overcrowding was occurring. Thesituation is not that simple, said administrators, because the Universityguarantees housing to all new students.
Assistant Director for Housing Administration Alan Devries explainedthat there were lounges set up for 164 residents, and 123 of these spaces wereactually used. These residents were charged a lower rate than regularresidents while living in the lounges, Devries said, and all lounge residentshad been reassigned as of Feb.3. Students living in lounges without phoneswere moved first. This first wave of reassignment was conducted the firstFriday after classes had begun, and the following waves of reassignmentoccurred based on the density of lounge residents in each building and theavailability of new beds.
Bauman said that the housing overflow problem has increasedthe urgency of constructing the new undergraduate apartments, which arescheduled to be completed by the fall of 2004. These apartments will add 697new beds but Bauman said that it is uncertain if this will significantlyalleviate future housing problems.
‘?We have a higher percentage of freshman, transfers,and continuing students all requesting to live on campus, even if theenrollment remains stable,’ he said.
No one can predict if in the upcoming semesters there willbe a greater number of lounge residents and triples. Devries said his focus ismore immediate. ‘?We want to get [housing for] the rest of the studentson the waiting list in the next couple of weeks and then we’ll be o.k.for the rest of the semester.’
Those interested in further information about housingassignment issue can e-mail Campus Residences at
