Res. Living distributes arena tickets

College junior Julie Gayle could not have been happier when she received her arena ticket yesterday, which assigned her the number one position. "I'm very surprised," she said. "What are the chances of getting the number one spot? Students received numbers spanning from one to 501, according to Doris Stone, an assignments supervisor for Residential Living. This year's lottery was based on class priority, giving higher numbers to rising juniors and seniors. In total, 805 students took part in the arena process, according to Ellie Rupsis, associate Residential Living director for occupancy administration. This breaks down to 146 seniors who want to live alone, 195 groups which include juniors and 463 groups which include sophomores. College junior Jeremy Eckhause who received arena ticket number two said he was not surprised by his high number. "I figured I didn't have much to worry about since I will be a senior, but having number two is great," he said. "I want a single in grad towers, and I expect to get it unless there is only one single in the grad towers." College freshman Adonija Tienou was especially unhappy with the lottery results when he discovered his number 498 was out of 501. "In light of this new information, I may not be living on campus," he said, adding that he did not expect a high number because of the new policy giving seniors priority. But Rupsis stressed that she hopes all students attend arena -- regardless of their lottery numbers. "While the number gives you approximate ideas of where you fall, there are certainly factors that need to be considered," she said. "Some students will drop while others may lose a member and become a different group size. "Still others may be exploring other options and may be using the arena as a safety net," she added. In fact, Gayle said she is still not sure whether or not she will live on campus for her senior year. "Since I basically can make any choice I want, this makes me more likely to stay on campus," she said. "But I'm not sure I'll definitely live on campus." Rupsis also said that still more rooms become available after arena, because the department typically receives several hundred cancellations over the summer. Arena will be held on Saturday in McClelland Hall from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Stone said she "waits all year" for arena. "I enjoy it," Stone said. "It's a fun day -- students are in a good frame of mind. The last ones get a little upset but when we talk to them they come around."