Over 600 retain high rise rooms

Up 100 from last year The number of students retaining rooms in the high rises topped last year's year total by more than 100, Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone said yesterday. During last week's two-day retention period, 607 students decided to spend another year in their high rise apartments. Last year, only 474 students retained their rooms. "I'm pleased," Simeone said. "I would attribute it to students realizing the benefits of living on campus." Simeone said this year's increase is "higher than usual," noting that 443 students retained in the spring of 1993, and 371 residents completed the process in 1992. The Residential Living Department used several methods to entice students to stay on campus this year. Besides the usual posters and balloons, officials added another incentive -- maintaining the current average room rent for next year. Retention occurred last Wednesday and Thursday in the upper lobby of High Rise North. To remind students about the retention period, balloons reading "Residential Living: Right in the Heart of Campus," lined Locust Walk and decorated the lobby of High Rise North last week. Department officials sat in the upper lobby, answering questions and aiding students in the completion of the retention process. Students who retained their rooms said the process went smoothly and quickly. "It was relatively easy," Engineering sophomore Julian Kwan said. "We like the high rises and there's no sense in picking a different room if we were going to stay in the high rises." Kwan said he and two of his three roommates retained their three-bedroom quad in High Rise North because the building is convenient and "has everything we need." He added that the ethernet connection available to High Rise residents was an added incentive. Simeone said this is the first year ResNet has been completely installed in all three high rises. "Students who get accustomed to the ethernet connection find out how incredibly useful that is," she said. "Cable and the movie station helped too." Residential Living's decision to maintain the same average rent "was significant," Simeone added.