MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1998

Dorm overcrowding may spill into spring

By Ana Tintocalis

On-Line Forty-Niner

So close, yet so far away.

This thought has been running through the minds of Cal State Long Beach students who were sent to live in dormitories at Brooks College, a local school less than a mile from CSULB, after the university had no room left in its on-campus housing facilities to accommodate them at beginning of the fall semester.

"The university had this torrential waiting list for on-campus housing," said Brooks College Resident Manager P.J. McNally. "And what's nice about Brooks was that it was so close and it had access to the university's shuttle service. We were probably the university's second-best solution."

What happened this semester took many CSULB officials by surprise: More students than they were prepared to handle decided to opt for the comfort and convenience of dorm life rather than to strike out on their own.

The number of first-time freshmen and upperclassmen who quickly filled the university's residence halls was so overwhelming that CSULB officials soon found themselves scrambling to find additional dorm rooms off campus.

And now with the fall semester coming to an end, college officials are wondering whether the residence halls will experience the same overcrowding when the school year resumes after winter break.

"I think the situation will basically be the same next spring," said Gary Little, director of CSULB Housing and Residential Life. "We won't know exactly how the situation will look until sometime in January."

Brooks College officials say they are prepared to accommodate any additional CSULB students if the housing situation repeats itself in the spring semester.

"I think that we'll have room for about 25 to 30 male students, and room for about 8 to 10 girls," McNally said. "We've been very cooperative, and we understand that a lot of the students have the desire to live at or close by Cal State Long Beach."

Proposals have been made to build additional housing facilities between the College of Business building and Parkside Commons, but college officials say they will not take any action until they can determine whether the increase of students interested in living on campus is a long-range trend.

Because of its location, more than 150 CSULB students were referred to Brooks College this semester when the university's residence halls filled its 1779 capacity limit.

Of the estimated 150 students, only 33 decided to call Brooks College home.

According to McNally, several CSULB students were able to move back to the university's housing facilities when spaces became available.

Others left when they found places elsewhere to live in the Long Beach area, she said.

Only 17 students who attend CSULB currently live at Brooks College.