Dorms remain packed

Some of the students living in dorm lounges received news this weekend that their stay might be extended \nconsiderably. \nResidential Programs and Services sent letters to some of the students informing them that they might not get a permanent room for up to a month later than anticipated.\nThe delay in finding rooms comes because RPS overestimated the number of students who didn't show up to IU for the first week of classes, said Pat Connor, executive director of RPS. \nBecause RPS booked more students than it had room for, the remaining students, most of whom transferred to IU from other schools, were placed in lounges until enough rooms could be found.\n"I thought they meant at the two-week period everyone was gonna be out, so I guess it's taking a little longer than they thought," said sophomore Greg Gier, one of the residents who received notification from the University.\nRPS issued the letter to prepare students for the fact that they might face temporary housing longer than they were initially told, Connor said. \n"Our hope is that we can do it quicker than that," he said. \nConnor said RPS has found about 30 vacancies, which will permanently relocate some of the approximately 60 students who have been living in lounges for two weeks. \nRoommates and sophomores Wissam Nour and Chris Lang share a Teter Quad lounge with two other students. They have two dressers and two racks for their clothes between the four of them. No desks are in the lounge, but they have one table. \nYet the sophomores said they do not mind living in the temporary housing for a few more weeks. \n"We're guys," Nour said. "We don't have eight boxes of clothes. There's more than enough room." \nLang said he wouldn't mind staying in the lounge for the rest of the semester, if he knew it would be permanent. He said the only real inconveniences are having less privacy and not knowing when he will be assigned to a permanent dorm room. \n"It's comfortable for now," Gier said. "I'd rather still have a permanent room than a temporary lounge ... At least they're trying to do something."\nHe and his roommates have not received word from the University as to how much longer they will remain in the lounge, he said. \nConnor said the inconvenience was a trade-off for having more space than most students.\nRPS is charging the students a discounted rate while they live in the lounges, though Connor was not able to recall how large the discount was.\nCheryl Dunn, whose son, freshman Kyle Biggs, is living in a Teter lounge, said she was disappointed in how the University was handling the situation. The small discount they received was not enough to compensate for the inconvenience, she said. \n"What are they doing about it?" Dunn asked. "He's adjusting to what was handed to him. But he would rather be in a room where he has privacy, wouldn't you?" \nConnor said he is confident RPS will find rooms for all of the displaced students soon.\n"We know more spaces will come open," Connor said. "There will be more students who will drop out by a certain time. We're just trying to evaluate what all the options are available to us"