Residential Life is now offering a new housing option for sophomores and juniors who want to live in the Hill, Village or suites. The new alternative allows juniors to live in a forced eight in the usual sevens in the Hill and the Village, and sophomores are allowed to do a forced nine in the usual eights in the suites.
This new option for the sophomores is not shocking, since the suites used to house ten in past years. But due to the constant complaints of congestion from the students and the new housing openings with Mountainview, the suites were changed to house only eight.
As for the juniors, a room in the Hill or Village usually held a group of seven, consisting of two doubles and one triple. But now with the new opportunity, it will house eight, two triples and one double.
But this new option calls for suspicion about the housing problem on campus. Even though seniors are forced to live off-campus, there is still the possibility that Quinnipiac is once again running out of housing for its students.
Just this past year, Mountainview was opened to house students. This building, with its large capacity, should have supressed the problems associated with the lack of housing for students. With Mountainview, there should be no reason to open the option for students to cram into the older buildings.
According to freshman Kristen McCarthy, students do not mind having the extra person living with them, whether they are forced to or not. She will be living in a forced 9 in a Larson suite next year.
“I want to be with my friends and that’s how it worked out,” McCarthy said.
Apparently living with friends is all that matters, even if living conditions might be a little tight. One of McCarthy’s roommates for next year, freshman Amy Cunniff, felt the same way about living with her friends.
“One of us would have had to live by ourselves so we decided to cram,” Cunniff said. “I’m not happy with the fact that we have to cram, but I’m glad we’re all living together. There was nothing else to do.”
For freshmen, the problem of eliminating or adding people to their rooms is not as prevalent as it is for sophomores. Most of the sophomore housing accommodates eight people, yet they are forced to move into a room that only houses seven as juniors. Students have complained in the past about having to change from a room of eight to seven.
Many students have taken advantage of this new option, mainly for the simple reason of living with all their friends. Sophomore Christopher Lobozzo also chose to do a forced eight in the usual seven of the Hill.
“We chose to have eight people because we didn’t want to leave out a good friend,” said Lobozzo. “It will be a little tight, but we’ll pull it off. The more the merrier.”
It is apparent that students do not mind squeezing an extra person in their rooms. But whether the students like or reject the idea, the reason for the new option is unexplained.
Let’s just hope a new housing problem does not stem from this new alternative for years to come. Maybe in a few years, only freshmen will be promised campus housing.
