Dorms filled; 419 waiting
By Hilary Strickland
Summer Forty-Niner
The Cal State Long
Beach Residence Halls are filled to capacity with an anticipated 1,800
students, and 419 students are on a first-come, first-serve waiting list.
“This is the first
time in the decade that we will be at 100 percent of the design capacity,”
said Gary Little, director of Housing and Residential Life.
The abounding enrollment
of the Residence Halls can be attributed to many things.
“I’d like to think
that some of the changes we’ve made, [such as] cable and internet access
in the rooms, have played a part in it,” Little said. “In addition to that,
President [Robert] Maxson has set a goal to make this the University of
choice by encouraging more and more freshmen to attend, and that’s what’s
happening.”
Since 1992, the demand
for housing has grown and the housing office at CSULB has found ways to
compensate, such as phasing out the super-single rooms. A super single
is a double room occupied by one person.
“Last year the Residence
Halls were filled, but we had 30 super singles,” Little said, “This year
we’ve phased them out completely.”
The housing department
offers students with housing difficulties some solutions
Last Saturday, the
Housing and Residential Life office held a workshop to assist students
on the waiting list in locating off-campus housing.
“We had a
large
turnout for the workshop,” Little said, “There were 250 students and quite
a few parents.”
The workshop was
an orientation, for the students and the parents, to familiarize them with
the area and to give them an idea of what to expect when looking for an
apartment, Little said.
“The most valuable
part of the workshop was a mixer,“ he said. “It gave people the chance
to get to know each other and maybe find someone to look for an apartment
with and possibly room with.”
The dorms at Brooks
College are another option for CSULB students.
“Last year, Brooks
College housed 40 students and this year they’ll be able to take about
60, he said.
“They have been really
cooperative but it’s challenging for them because their quarter starts
in the second or third week of September; so it’s a matter of them judging
how many spaces they’ll have available.”
The campus shuttle
goes right by Brooks College on its route to CSULB so students without
cars who are staying there will have a convenient way of getting to school.
The only change the
Residence Halls has had to make, in accommodation of the burgeoning enrollment,
is extending the dining hours in the Residence Dining Hall.
“Last year a lot
of people were interested in later dinner hours, so we extended them and
it works out well for this semester’s larger population,” Little said.
President Maxson
will address the housing problem in his convication speeck on Aug. 27,
Maxson said.
If seeking off-campus
housing, the CSULB Housing Office has a web site and a phone number with
apartment listings as well as room for rent and roommate wanted listings.
The web site address
is http://www.csulb.edu/~housing/offcampus/index.html
and the phone number for apartment listings is (562) 985-7757.
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