BUNKING UP...IN STUDY LOUNGES?

Due to a room shortage in Towers, last spring’s room draw had a less than satisfactory outcome, leaving some students “roomless.” In response, Residence Life transformed study lounges in Towers into dorm rooms for those students who couldn’t get a conventional room.

Most study lounges in Dieseth and Miller were converted into bedrooms over the summer.

Those students who had the lowest room draw numbers were the last to be allocated. By the time their turn came, there weren’t any more rooms available in Towers.

However, feelings about life in study lounges are mixed. Residence Life acknowledges that this is not an optimal solution.

“Having students living in lounges is not where we want to be at Luther,” Director of Residence Life Kris Franzen said. “Therefore, the administration has been working to create new housing options such as Norby House to make sure we do not have students living in lounges in the future. “

Norby House is not an option extended to the displaced students, but those with low room draw numbers were given a choice.

“During the summer each group of students was contacted and given the opportunity to select a double room in Larsen Hall or a study lounge in the Towers,” Franzen said. “The students that are living in the lounges picked the study lounge option over the standard double room.

One of the main reasons students chose to live in study lounges was due to the convenient location of the lounges. If they had chosen to live in Larsen, they would have been far from their friends, whereas living in a study lounge allows them to have the Towers experience most sophomores go through.

Despite their choice, students aren’t too happy about their room allocation.

“It’s really frustrating that in the morning I have to go on the computer and see what the weather is like,” Teresa Procter (‘12) said.

She also voiced her concern about the level of privacy in a lounge, since it is surrounded by corridors and the amount of noise through the open ventilation system.

Others think it isn’t such a big deal to make a home in a study lounge.

“Some [students] reported that they appreciate the size of the lounges and also the ability to be able to move their furniture,” Franzen said.

Students in study lounges pay the same price for their rooms as those who live in traditional rooming. Franzen said that this was because those who live in study lounges have chosen to do so, and therefore, should accept the consequences. Many students, however, don’t think this is very fair.

“I think that these students should be somehow compensated for their lack of daylight through maybe getting a lower tuition,” Lisa Richter (‘12) said.

What mostly frustrated those who live in study lounges is the fact that their low room draw number led them there.

“I don’t agree with the way they are doing the room draw process now,” Procter said. “I understand wanting to reward students who have been pushing themselves academically, but taking high school credits into consideration is unfair since some high schools did not offer AP courses.”

Not only does the shortage of rooms affect students who live in lounges, but it also affects the floors as a whole.

“I think that it’s too bad that the rest of the floor doesn’t have a common area or a study lounge,” Richter said. “It’s an inconvenience for everyone.”

Some RAs have expressed concern about students’ comfort in lounges, but it hasn’t changed their job much.

“It doesn’t make much of a difference,” Miller RA Nabby Baffour-Awuah (‘11) said. “It’s just an extra room.”

The question for students now lies on what Res Life will do to rectify the situation in the future.

“I really wonder what will happen next year, given that the freshman class is even larger than ours,” Richter said.

Whatever happens, Luther students this year face the challenges and perks of living in these unconventional dorm rooms.