Quinnipiac residential housing crisis has continued into another academic year. Despite the addition of the Mountainview Residence Hall in August of 2002, some freshmen are being forced to live in study lounges and many transfers have been tripled into rooms normally reserved for only two people.
Associate Director of Residential Life Derek Zuckerman does not see the crunch as a dilemma, however.
“From my perspective I wouldn’t consider freshmen housing to be a problem,” Zuckerman said. “There was a point when there were five in every quad, and every lounge was filled.”
Despite Zuckerman’s words, some freshmen are upset with living conditions. While the students living in the study lounges are inconvenienced, freshmen that need a quick escape from their hectic rooms to study are also unhappy.
“With six people in those rooms it’s a lot louder and there isn’t any quiet time,” said freshman Sara Koste. “I don’t know how they get all of their work done with so many people in there.”
Although freshman Nicole Arcuri does not live in a study lounge, she is sympathetic towards those forced to do so.
“There are just too many people in those rooms,” she said. “Coming from a situation where I had my own room I think it would be extremely hard to live with five other people; three is more than enough.”
Though the majority of freshmen agree that there is a problem with overcrowding in their dorms, there is also a growing consensus that the study lounges aren’t such bad places to live.
“There’s so much more room than in other dorms,” says Joyce Gimenez of New Milford, CT. “I live in a study lounge and I think I got a better deal to be honest with you,” she says.
Gimenez further reports that her social life is more interesting because she already lives with so many girls.
“Upperclassmen live with larger numbers of people already, so this is probably good preparation for those circumstances,” she said. “My roommates and I are friends. We’re all so different and things are always interesting.”
Discussing the housing situation with the Student Government at the organization’s first meeting of the academic year, Residential Life Director Carol Boucher described the steps the university is taking to alleviate the housing tensions in the future.
“A committee has been formed to include representatives of admissions, residential life and university development. My staff and I continue to work to fix the problems.”
According to Boucher and her Associate Director Gina Grubb, transfers who have been placed in traditionally double rooms will now be entitled to $650 per semester as a reimbursement for their inconvenience. The entitlement benefits the immediate inhabitants of the tripled room only, without providing a benefit for the remaining six suite members in dorms such as Mountainview Hall.
This infomation prompted Junior class representative Salvatore Morello to ask the Residential life representatives why the remaining roommates are not also considered for financial reimbursements.
” We’re really not sure about the mathematics behind the equation just yet,” said Boucher. “This is still a learning process.”
