search articles:     from the issue of August 17, 2006         Campus residence halls start year over capacity  BY KELLY BARTLING, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS Campus residence halls are filled beyond capacity for the first time in a number of years, prompting UNL Housing officials to house students in temporary rooms. "Our traditional-style residence halls are going to be at maximum or over capacity for the first several weeks of the school year," housing director Doug Zatechka said. "We expect to have as many as 150 students assigned to temporary space. We will have another 30 to 50 students assigned to East Campus, at Burr Hall, who would prefer to be at City Campus." Zatechka said lounge areas have been converted to temporary rooms and some single rooms are now double rooms. Students in the temporary rooms will be moved to permanent assignments when space opens in other locations. "This is good news depending on your perspective," Zatechka said. "Of course it shows the university's success in enrolling more freshman and transfer students than prior years. And it shows that housing is meeting the wide needs of the large number of students who are choosing to live on campus. It shows the popularity of our apartment-style complexes and that we're keeping more returning students on campus throughout their college career. "But for the student who really had his or her heart set on a particular residence hall or who is assigned to a temporary space in a lounge area, I'm sure there will be disappointment. Hopefully students will keep in mind that returning students who sign contracts early will get first choice of locations next year." Zatechka said the demand for both apartment-style and traditional on-campus housing is at an all time high. More than 1,000 apartment-style beds filled up quickly during the signup period in the spring. And, traditional residence hall contracts received were approximately 400 higher than a year ago. Despite the space crunch, housing continued to accept all freshman contracts because freshmen are required to live on campus. Late-arriving housing requests for upperclass students were turned away. GO TO: ISSUE OF AUGUST 17 NEWS HEADLINES FOR AUGUST 17 Research funding tops $100 million milestone Shop expertise aids ANDRILL Summer Construction Updates Traffic rolls across half of Big X UNL.edu update unveiled Campus residence halls start year over capacity Expect delays as students return to UNL From the Archives Scientists link wind shift, Sandhills mega-drought Students create tiles for Selleck dining hall U.N. ambassador opens Thompson series United Kingdom terror arrests delay UNL students' return UNL bus routes trimmed, garage-only route added 732540S35989X