Tufts, B.U., B.C. Battle Crunch Of Crowds in Hunt for Rooms

The annual struggle to find sufficient housing for the masses of students returning to school in the Boston area has once again forced students from Tufts University and other area schools into temporary hotel quarters for at least part of the year.

For the second consecutive year, 150 Tufts students--mostly sophomores with low numbers in the housing lottery--will reside in rooms at the Sheraton Commander Hotel on Garden St. Last year, when Tufts found itself overcrowded, the university negotiated a deal with the Sheraton to provide rooms in a wing of the hotel.

Helen Glikman, assistant director for housing at Tufts, said yesterday, the university has a "pretty firm plan" to expand its dorm facilities. Students now in the hotel may also enter an Oct. 2 lottery to attempt to fill new vacancies on campus. But Glikman said the hotel residents "probably will be treated equally" in the lottery--a decision that irritates some of the Tufts students who feel they are "stuck at the Sheraton."

A group of Tufts sophomores living at the Sheraton said yesterday they feel isolated from friends and campus life. Students described Tufts' 24-hour shuttle

Night editors for this issue:

Erik J. Dahl '79

Jonathan D. Ratner '79

Editorial night editor for this issue:

Francis J. Connolly '79

Wire editor for this issue:

Amy B. McIntosh '80

Photo editors for this issue:

David E. Beach '79: Lisa C. Hsia '80 bus service between the Sheraton and the campus as "a pain."

"You just can't be relaxed," one sophomore said. "You run around looking at your watch, and I don't like living that way. You just have to live by the bus schedule."

But Tufts students are not alone in their predicament.

Boston University (B.U.) also began its school year with about 200 students living in rooms at area hotels. But B.U. housing director Robert Alsworth said the university has moved about 120 of those students back into on-campus housing. He said this is the first year B.U. has had an overflow problem, but he added that he hopes to have all the remaining students back on campus in the near future.

Boston College (B.C.) has received a one-year dormitory license from the city of Boston to house 90 students in a portion of St. Gabriel's Monastery in Brighton, Rick Borofski, assistant director of housing at B.C., said yesterday.

He said the St. Gabriel's arrangement is not a temporary residence set-up. He explained that it is like many of the other "off-campus" residences maintained by the college, most of which, Borofski said, are occupied by freshmen.

Borofski said the college has tentative plans to build an 800-bed dorm facility by 1980. "Thank goodness our admissions projections were accurate this year," he said. Last year, B.C. students were moved into quarters at a Howard Johnson's motel when an overcrowding problem developed. No such temporary arrangement has been needed this year, Borofski said.