As the time approaches for students to preference for next fall, they will have to start weighing their housing options and deciding what exactly they want.

According to The Office of Institutional Research fact book, nearly 35 percent of students, or 8,860 people, lived in university-owned housing, i.e. residence halls or student apartments, in fall semester 1997.

Forty-eight percent of students, or 1,296 people, lived in off-campus housing.

Thirteen percent (3,405 students) lived outside of Ames, and five percent lived with their parents or guardians.

A little more than 6.2 percent (1,575 students) chose to live within the greek system.

Two factors that may dissuade students from choosing residence hall life next year are the proposed room and board increase and the closing of Maple Hall.

Last Wednesday, the Board of Regents decided to approve a 7.5 percent room and board increase for the ’98-’99 school year.

Valerie James, student office assistant for the Department of Residence, said the proposed rate for room and board for next year would be $3,958 for a shared room and a 20-meal plan.

For a ‘double as a single’ the proposed rate is $834 more than that figure, and for a single room, the proposed rate is $600 more.

Earlier in the year, residence hall officials announced that they would be shutting down Maple this May.

The building will undergo extensive repairs and renovations, including the installation of semi-private bathrooms and personal suites.

But with the overhaul of Maple, more than 500 residents will be forced to find other housing.

Gary Schwartz, associate director of residence, said he believes students will not be turned off by these issues, and he said the academic aid the residence halls provide for the students is an important asset.

“The relationship and support we provide for the academic endeavors of the students that live here … [are] options for students that they can’t get anywhere else,” he said.

Schwartz said there are two major reasons students choose not to live in the halls: the rules and regulations and the occasional lack of privacy.

“[Some] people need more space and greater privacy than they can obtain in the residence halls,” he said.

Daren Heidgerken, Inter-Residence Hall Association vice president of conferences, said that despite these issues, the residence halls offer a sense of togetherness.

“You have the community aspect,” said Heidgerken, senior in aerospace engineering. “The floor is a big community; it’s a lot more close-knit than living off-campus, where you go into an apartment and don’t necessarily know your neighbors.”

Christopher Johnson, senior in computer science and vocal music education, has been a resident of Linden Hall for five years.

He cited the friendships he has made over the years as one reason for choosing to stay in the residence halls.

“A lot of my friends are here on the floor. It’s sort of a nice place to be, especially when you have a ‘double as a single,'” Johnson said.

Johnson also said having access to Ethernet was a major reason for staying in the residence halls, since he is a computer science major.

“My big kick is being able to get to the Internet … within the comfort of my own home,” he said, noting that if he lived off-campus, he would have to get a modem and an Internet service provider.

“It’s not so much the cost, but just the convenience,” Johnson said.

Heidgerken said another advantage of living in residence halls is safety, since student security patrols the building nightly.

He also called residence life a simpler way to live, adding that residence hall students only receive one monthly bill for their living expenses, and they do not have to worry about their own cooking.

Heidgerken said he does not believe the issues affecting residence halls, including Maple’s renovations and the room and board increase, will discourage students from choosing the residence hall life.

“I don’t think it will discourage a lot of people,” he said, adding the biggest problem stemming from Maple’s shut-down will be the lack of single rooms for residents.

But, Heidgerken said, the renovations will “increase the selling points of the residence halls,” making them more modern.

Heidgerken added that some of the students have expressed their frustration about the recent room and board increase, but for the most part, the upset students have been in the minority.

“A lot of [the frustration] is due to not understanding the reasoning behind the increase, and not understanding where the money is going,” Heidgerken said, adding that he believes the residence hall associations and IRHA staff have done an effective job of helping people understand the reasoning behind the increase.

Pete Englin, director of residence life for the Richardson Court Association, said he has not heard that students are becoming discouraged by the increase.

“I think we’ve provided some good alternatives,” he said, adding that the department has tried to let the public know why the increase is necessary.

Since the greek system offers a community advantage to residents as well, Heidgerken said he feels the advantage residence halls have is that dorm life is more inclusive.

“[Residence hall life] is more open to general students; a lot of people don’t fit into the greek life,” Heidgerken said. “Residence halls offer a wider variety of people to interact with.”

Englin said advantages of living in the halls include being close to the academic community, having the convenience of food service, having an “all-in-one” for room and board and a “built-in community.”

The halls offer an advantage for first-year college students, Englin said, since it helps them establish new relationships after having to leave the “traditional ties” of their families.

Englin also said the halls are probably a much safer place to live than off-campus housing, but he added that both locations are safe, considering the city of Ames is safer than many larger urban areas.