Some students live in lounges, not hotels

Ryan Dolan, a freshman, moved into his room in Towers last week like thousands of other Pitt… Ryan Dolan, a freshman, moved into his room in Towers last week like thousands of other Pitt students. However, unlike most of them, his room used to be his floor’s lounge.

“There’s no downside to living in the lounge,” Dolan said. “It’s just different.”

About 90 students are living in lounges this year in Lothrop Hall and Litchfield Towers, but they don’t seem to mind.

Dolan said that he sees no downside to living in a lounge. Besides the fact that someone is always in his room since he has three other roommates, he is generally pleased with the unconventional room. It’s three times the size of a regular double room in Towers, and it came with a television, Dolan said.

University spokesman John Fedele said that overflow housing happens at universities when the number of accepted students who choose to come to a school is higher than expected. The same phenomenon has occurred ever year for the past several years, and last year resulted in 50 students living in the Wyndham Hotel on Forbes Avenue.

The University chose lounges in Towers and Lothrop because they are the floors that have common bathrooms. When a student hands in his or her housing deposit is a factor in determining who will be assigned to the lounges, Fedele said.

Students who live in these lounges pay the standard triple or quad housing fee, depending on the size of their lounge.

Shawn Brooks, the director of residence life, said in an email that students who end up living in lounges generally have an “excellent experience.”

“In fact, if an opportunity comes up when they can move into a traditional room, they usually choose to remain in the lounge living arrangements,” Brooks said in an e-mail.

The boys occupying the lounge on floor three of Tower B said their room is amazing.

Joe Fogiato, Troy Bishop and Josh Yoskosky were all confused when they got their housing assignment listing three other roommates. But after asking around, the boys found out that lounge-living existed.

Fogiato said he was “stoked” about his new room, and was impressed that it came with a television and couches.

All the boys said they loved that there is far more square footage in the room compared to regular doubles, which leaves a lot more opportunities for decorating.

“It’s also nice being able to fit four fridges and three TVs,” Bishop said.

Since the lounge is the biggest room on the floor, and was originally meant as a communal space,, the boys are having a baseball party next week so that their floor can come in to watch the game on their TV.

Even though the boys were excited about their living situation, their parents weren’t as enthusiastic.

“My mom was pissed,” Bishop said, when she first learned of his room assignment.

Unlike previous years, there are no students living in the Wyndham Hotel on Forbes Avenue this year.

There are still dental hygiene students living at Carlow University because of its proximity to the dental hygiene program location, Fedele said.

In order to cope with the problem of overflow housing, Pitt is building a new freshman residence hall on University Place, which will open in the fall of 2013 and house 550 students.

SIDEBAR: New Bouquet Gardens

A new portion of Bouquet Gardens was opened this fall to house 155 upperclassmen.

The on-campus apartment-style living accomodations, which include doubles, triples and quads, include a full kitchen, living room and bathroom. Each new room also has a 42-inch television mounted on the living room wall.

The building, which is further down Oakland Avenue than the other Bouquet Garden apartments, also houses a fitness center, lounge and laundry facilities.

Roommates Danielle Flynn and Courtney Bryant, both juniors, said they are enjoying their newly built apartment.

Flynn said that all the amenities the apartment comes with, including the television, are really nice because they didn’t have to worry about who was bringing what.

Peter Brendel, a resident of the new building, said that this has been the best living accomodation he has had on campus so far.

Tyrone Ferguson, Brendel’s roommate, said that the television was a nice surprise when they moved in.

Even though Flynn said she was lazy and the walk home was a little too far, she said “when you get older you’re going to have to live off campus anyway.”

Brendel also doesn’t mind the farther walk, especially since it has been so nice outside.

“School hasn’t started yet, so I can’t tell how bad it’s going to get,” Brendel said.

The only thing that Flynn and Bryant have a problem with is the security guard and swipe-in system outside their building, which the other Bouquet Gardens buildings don’t have.

“I wish there wasn’t a security guard because it has the whole Towers dorm feel, which we were really trying to get away from,” Flynn said.