The number of students living in temporary housing decreased by more than 100 this year from last year, but many students still are starting the school year coping with the uncertainty that comes with a short-term room. About 280 students currently living in temporary housing will be changing rooms as soon as permanent residence hall rooms become available, Director of Residence Randy Alexander said. Last year, nearly 400 students started the school year living in temporary housing, mostly in dorm floor dens. Currently, 279 students have not yet been assigned to regular rooms, Alexander said. He said about half of the students who do not have permanent rooms are in North Helser Hall. The Master Plan, a series of long-term goals set by the residence department, calls for the demolition of the northern 20 percent of Helser in May 2001. The 185 students living in that section will be assigned to new rooms. Alexander said they “decided to make space for students for overflow” since the dorms will be intact throughout the year. Laura Holm, sophomore in elementary education, lives in a temporary Helser dorm room this semester. She said she was told by the Department of Residence that she would only be living in Helser a month or two. “I brought what I’d need until I moved out,” she said. Melissa Lamkin, sophomore in mechanical engineering, said that she too left some of her belongings with her parents last year when she was in temporary housing. “[You have to] just make the best of it,” she said. Lamkin lived in a den in Willow Hall last year for about a month. She shared the den with two other girls and said she had fun living there. “The girls were a lot of fun, and I hated having to switch,” Lamkin said. Alexander said the Department of Residence does not turn away incoming freshmen, but some students are told they will be living in temporary housing. These students may cancel their request for a room, commute or live off campus until a permanent room becomes available or accept the temporary room. Students in temporary housing are expected to be in permanent housing by the beginning of October.