Freshmen 'overload' residences

By Mary Georgevich

As first week festivities finish, members of the largest freshman class in Santa Clara history are settling into converted lounge spaces, triple dorm rooms and off-campus residence halls.

Scott Strawn, director of residence life, said that there are 125 students placed in overload housing right now. "Overload housing is not an ideal situation," he said. "It's not what we'll plan for next year."

Sanfilippo, Campisi, Graham, McLaughlin, Walsh, and Dunne Halls have all converted double rooms into triples to accommodate these students.

In Sobrato, 25 single rooms have been converted into doubles, and some of the lounges in Swig now house students. The lounges looked smaller than the original Swig rooms, and tape was placed over windows in the doors to provide privacy for the residents.

Other students were placed in off-campus dorms which used to house graduate students, such as Bellarmine Hall (formerly Alameda South), which is now a part of the Communitas Residential Learning Community.

Freshman Jessica Canalin, placed in Bellarmine, said her parents worry about her safety living off campus.

"It's always 'Jessie, get someone to walk with you, don't jaywalk,'" she said.

Two blocks from campus Alameda North was also renamed as Saint Clare, and is now housing upperclassmen and transfer students.

Some see the distance as a trade-off for larger rooms, like sophomore transfer Krishna Kary. "I might get a bike," she said.

Strawn says there are plans to create an RLC for St. Clare, however, "there are a lot of logistical issues at that building that make it difficult to build a community," he said.

All the students placed in triples were given a $750 credit toward housing for the quarter and were notified before arriving on campus. The cost for room and board for the 2006-2007 school year is $10,380.

Nicholas Sanchez, a student living in a double-sized room that has been converted into a triple in Graham, said he was not very upset with his placement in a triple until he started buying things.

It was only later that he realized the actual amount of space he had in the room. "I was like, 'Oh no,'" he said.

Some felt the amount made for an unfair trade. "It isn't enough," Nicholas' father Matthew Sanchez said.

"It would be better if Santa Clara was suited to have triples," the elder Sanchez said. "Then it wouldn't be a big deal. But they're not suited to have triples and they're forcing it on the students."

Freshmen Francesca Lebaron, Brianna Osetinsky and their roommate had trouble utilizing the space they had in Graham.

"I'm jealous when I look at doubles," Lebaron said. They said they all can't use their bookshelves or half of a closet because there isn't enough room.

The furniture for the three women lines every wall.

"It's going to be a constant compromise," said Osetinsky.

Ivana Lebaron, Francesca's mother, lived in Sanfilippo as an undergraduate in the early 1970s. "I'm an alum and I could've sworn these rooms were bigger when I went here," she said. "We're OK if the girls are OK, though."

Students were notified of the housing problem at orientations and given the opportunity to volunteer to be placed in triples, Margarita Malagon, director of housing business services said. She said approximately 12 students volunteered for a triple.

Freshman Andy Miller volunteered along with two friends from high school. "We approached the school about that, and they told us that we would be in a triple together," he said. "We were pretty excited about that."

He and his roommates are in a McLaughlin room used by a graduate student last year.

Freshman Meg Russell said she didn't mind the distance of Bellarmine from campus because of her room's amenities.

Bellarmine rooms have a stove with cabinets and a bathroom. However, the dorm atmosphere didn't seem immediately obvious to students and visitors, so much that the service desk put a sign in the entrance that read, "This is NOT a hotel."

Not everyone is optimistic about their housing. Connor Shields, a junior transfer student, was placed in St. Clare. "This is the reject dorm," he said.

Contact Mary Georgevich at (408) 554-4852 or mgeorgevich@scu.edu.