University of Arkansas Fayetteville - Razorback Yearbook (Fayetteville, AR)

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ABOVE Freshmen Katy Rogers and Taylor Walker work at their desks while Sarell Keith studies on a sofa. All three girls were put in a common room that had been converted into a bedroom in an attempt to solve the housing overflow issues. SHARING SPACES STORY Rebecca Soard PHOTOS Tabatha Pollock Welcome to Humphreys, the dorm otherwise known as the hottest place on campus. Step onto the ninth floor and imagine being one of few people living in a room with air-conditioning, a flat screen television and couches, a room that was originally intended for the entire floor. This situation is one that freshmen Sarell Keith, Taylor Walker and Katy Rogers became completely familiar with when over¬ flow housing forced them into the dorm common room, a living situation nothing less than unusual during their freshman year. We had a few people that would just come in, see us sitting here and just walk out, Walker said. We were really nice, though. We let people come in here when it was really hot. Despite this and the other minor complication of having no internet in the common room, the girls quickly adapted to their living situation. The worst part about it is having to leave, Rogers said. This viewpoint was held by the oth¬ er common room occupants as well. We all got so used to it, and now we have to move in the middle of the week, Keith said. I ' m still trying to figure out where to put stuff in my new room. While the girls were upset about leaving their roommates and adjusting to new rooms, the rest of the floor wasn ' t as troubled. We already have a few programs scheduled for the day they move out, Resident Advisor Justin Massingill said. We ' ll probably have a grand opening of the room and probably have pizza or something. Though these comments may seem harsh, Massingill pointed out that it wasn ' t an issue with the girls themselves, but more of an issue for the rest of the floor. Whenever people are just in their rooms, I feel like it ' s kind of awkward to just go up to someone and intro¬ duce yourself, Massingill said. Other people on the floor agreed. It prevents our floor from being so¬ cial, a resident said. It ' s not fair that they get that room and we don ' t 28 | STUDENT LIFE

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ABOVE Smells fill the kitchen as one roommate ignores his dirty dishes. Wars over who cleaned the dishes caused conflict with many UA students throughout the year. ROOMMATE WARS 27

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ABOVE Paper covering the door displays one of the issues with living in a common room. Multiple roommates and the room ' s former status as a common area made strangers walking in a more likely occurrence. COMMON ROOM LIVING 29