Ball State University - Orient Yearbook (Muncie, IN)

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we X ,X W 'il ...rf -XJ , if A ,. lf 1 SQS, , :x xiii . 1 1 t .C:1' J. I 13 'ANA 'I ,II BY MARMIE HOUCHENS AND BRUCE KONKLE Two's o company, three's a crowd but six roommates is iust downridtt ridiculous. But that's exactly what happened to 1,200 students when they rejstered in their respective donns on the first day of school this year at Ball State. With enrollment up by 4.11 percerrt, the Housing Office faced the difficult problem of firlling rooms for incoming freshmen because residence halls were already full. As a result of the overcrowdness, hundreds of students had to be housed temporarily in dorm lounges, study lounges and rooms origimlly set up for double occupancy. It was not until the last two humid weeks of August that the Housing Office begat redizing iust how big a space problem they were going to have. Besides increased en-ollment, two other problems, the hlgh Page 18 - Dorm Crisis -'4 l 4 KN' 1 -- 1 ,J cost of off-campus living md the allotment of private rooms, also made the matter worse. With food prices still skyrocketing, many iuniors and seniors found it easier to move back into the dormitory. They lost some freedom but they gained o cook plus several other benefits. Three hundred private room allotments definitely worsened the situation, accoreing to Housing Office officials. Most of the students who paid for their private room didn't want to give it up for various reasons and there was no way they could be made to give it up. A few were kind enough to take on a roommate, though. The overcrowdedness tumed into an extra big headache for both the students and the Housing Office. Working extra hours to solve Qin.. f A t 1 u the situation, the housing staff came up with a few solutions but several students were still left holding the bog. By Oct. 1,40 of the 65 students who hd been living in hall lounges were moved into rooms, seven had been offered space in a room but had refused them, three were given the opportunity to move rooms Oct. 1 ond415 students were given no choice at all, so they remained where they were. Needless to say malty of the freshmen in the overcrowded rooms were irate about the entire mess. Besides not having any privacy whatsoever, they dso had little room for all their personal belongings. We ranted and raved, recalled Om Peters, a resident of a three-man room in Swinford. We didn't know what to do with the stuff we brought and had to send a lot of img

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3 Q-Q, ,--- 'M ---M g-, 1' - 4 1 -Q S. i - xX , ak t, E. SAI JN!YERS1TY -' .-ilk '7LFF1Q'SAFETY - i Y-w-Q x Nik: POLICE ' R, -:-- -s ,T , ' Ef -V-f so' ' F I. ' F , 'I -s u .J 1? 'V -i ,l ,V- Y -- . 1 , ..,.,-fu' X. v '-X 5 Paul Strohm and his mother begin unloading thingsfrom the car as they try to psychologically prepare themselves forthe long haul up to his roorn, Moving in brought with it sore legs, stiff arms and, sometimes. short tempers. Many freshmen had no doubt visited the book- store prior to gaining the status of a student, but tnat vtlsit could not have begun to prepare them for the chaotic Slate of the place at the beginning of each quarter. 'LQ' ..a n 5 'f N-3.5 SAX- The woes of waiting in line are experienced by these students as they wait to register their cars for parking privileges on campus. Parking again became a problem. but one that students quickly got used to. Sept. 9 - Page 17

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it home. Many students even thought it was some kind of a ioke when they were first told they would be living in an overcrowded room, if ordy temporarily. Somehow the word temporarily iust wasn't definite enough and they wanted to know iust when they would get their right room. Mike Chapin, a study lounge resident on first floor Swinford, explained that the room wasn't even clean when we came and we had no minors or study lamps. The overhead light was too bright md it was next to impossible to study. lie continued by saying that dmost all of their problems were solved thoudl, when they got their lamps. Most students did quickly adiust to their new roommates and many problems were worked out fairly well. Some even got to the point where they rather enloyed all the compmy that was around. Chapin, along with his roommates Jim Crume and Ken Thieme, all agreed that they did get to meet a lot of people through each other's friends, which worked out pretty nice since they were freshmen and new on cunpus. Another good point daout the extra roommate was that what one roomie didn't have, another probably would have. Many rooms ended up with complete libraries of tapes and albums, stereos and quads and even plenty of food. ln the women's donns the telephone situation seemed to be the maior problem after clothes space. It is always busy,f' stated Jan Morgan, who shared a room with Closet space got a bit cramped but there was not too much a resident could do when he got placed in the overcrowded situation. Straightening his clothes the best possible, Ken Thieme, resident of the infamous Swinford'AHall study lounge, squeezes into his 'closet' for a look at his outfits. Teresa llathaway and Karen Kege.-reis. But when they were given the opportunity to move out, they refused it. All agreed that they liked being together and would rather suffer the ills of crowdedness them separation. But there was one major problem that ahnost every crowded student did disagree with, md this concerned the small amount of rebate money they were receiving each week to compensate them for their troubles. The total, 52.50 per week, was arrived at by subtracting the S9 activities fee from the student's 51,1 52, leaving 51.143, then tdiing 40 percent out which is used for the room. Out of 5570.20 remaining, a student living in an overcrowded room all year would get back 5247.50 and the university retained the 520910 left over. Students couldn't see why they didn't get all their money back but, explained Robert Newton, business manager for Auxiliary Services, the extra amount would be used for the increased linen costs, setting up a disassembling beds md the increased wear and tear on the rooms. But since it w n't the individud's fault for getting stuck in a crowded roam, why did they have to pay for it? tlo one qiparently came up with a good answer at this point. While most mode out the best they could, some residents, like Craig Spaid, who were housed in lounges, weren't even forewarned by the llousing Office and that made matters worse. l didn't know where l was staying until the moming I arrived from St. Paul. The Peace and quiet seldom came to his make-shift room in the Swinford study lounge so when it did Michael Chapin takes advantage of it and gets in a few hours of booking. With six roommates sharing the facilities, privacy was one of the most unheard of words around. M.O.B. -844' P :lr-sys. N-N. least they could have done was let us know they were overcrowded and that we would be housed temporarily in the lounges, Spaid said. A few irate students even sought legal aid in their fight for a double room and for hidier rebates. Jerry Miller, student legal services lawyer, had many requests and he simply told them that the university could legally be sued for breach of contract but the cost involved in a lawsuit probably wouldn't be worth all the hassles. In other words, he was trying to save the university's neck along with trying to 'aid' the student. frustrating probably best described the entire mess and headaches over the matter continued until Thanksgiving break. Most students by that time had either moved out of the overcrowded room or elected to stay together by their own choice. Most did move out for space reasons. Some moved out because they couIdn't get along. Others lust sought more privacy than the three or seven person room could offer. The students that did move out after a few weeks or possibly a couple of months took with them new virtues of patience, unselfishness and understanding. They ahnost had to, for every way they turned there was usually someone there. Will the dorm crisis ever happen again? Well, it's hard to say for sure but the admiristration is bound to watch their enrollment figures a bit closer in the future, but last minute enrollment will always be a threat. But students made it through, in most cases, in flying colors, as the old saying goes. Sure the tempers were fired up a bit at times and many searched desperately for some fomi of privacy but, as Welker Bishop, assistant dean of housing stated, Ball State students have an excellent record of students helping students through Campus Chest, SVS and other ways and I have great faith that they will come through in this pwticulor situation. And that they did. Schmidt Hall also got into the overcrowded situation but residents .lan Morgan, Teresa Hathaway and Karen Kegerreis managed to stick together as well as stick out the dorm crisis. Over 60 students began the year living in various hall lounges throughout campus. M.O.B. 'a i' . .5 ng.. 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