Two study lounges in Pasquerilla Hall West were converted to resident rooms during the break to accommodate five women returning from study abroad programs, pushing the total number of converted study lounges in that dorm to five.

PW rector Sister Sue Bruno said she requested that the study lounges be converted to rooms because more students were returning from study abroad programs than those who left at the end of the semester. No other dorms experienced a housing shortage.

"I made the request because originally we had 17 women leaving and over 20 wanting to move back and we couldn't get everyone back home. Student residences reluctantly granted my request because there were some available beds in other dorms," said Bruno.

Associate director of Residence Life and Housing Scott Kachmarik said the decision shows his department's consideration for the community aspect of the residence halls.

"There are some room openings across campus; technically we could have said, `We're going to put you someplace else.' [The decision] shows our commitment to the residence hall community," said Kachmarik.

Junior Leslie Petersohn, who returned from the London program, is living in one of the converted triples. She said she received an e-mail from Bruno during November regarding the housing situation and is pleased that she was able to return to her old dorm.

"We started hearing about the problems in the dorm in November … but we got an e-mail from Sister Sue later that said she had to be a little creative, but she fit us all in. It worked out really well, the only problem is that we don't have sinks, but that hasn't been a big deal yet because we are right across from the bathroom," said Petersohn.

At the beginning of the semester, 39 study lounges in Dillon Hall, the Mod Quad dorms and the West Quad dorms were converted into rooms to accommodate a freshman class that was 100 students larger than normal. The extra large class was the result of more students than expected accepting Notre Dame's offer of admission.

How this extra large class might affect next year's housing is not yet known because housing contracts have not been distributed to determine the number of current students who wish to live on campus next year. While the admissions office will be carefully monitoring the size of the incoming class, another factor that affects housing is the number of students who chose to study abroad. Kachmarik said "only a handful of students" decided not to study abroad this semester because they were concerned about security after the Sept. 11 attacks. International Study Program director Tom Bogenschild said he actually expects that slightly more students will be going abroad next year compared to this year.

Kachmarik said that if there are more students than can be accommodated in available housing, a lottery may be held to determine which students would actually be put in housing. However, he said it is not likely such a lottery will be held.

"This is my fourth year and we've never had to have a lottery before and I don't get the sense that we'll have to do that this year … I'm a housing guy, I can put people anywhere. If it comes down it, I can find places for people anywhere," said Kachmarik.

• Abroad students return to housing pinch
  
• Activists travel to March for Life