Students across the board have been having difficulty with the housing assignment process. The problem is due in part to an increased number of seniors living on campus, many in Towers suites. Furthermore, several seniors declined off-campus housing authorization, though the issue was somewhat alleviated by Jason Jakubowski, director of housing assignments, by granting an additional 100 requests. This, however, is merely a symptom of a growing problem.

Rising juniors have been hit harder than most, some whom are living in their first-year housing for the third year in a row. Even more troubling, the decrease in the number of off-campus housing authorizations combined with a rise in housing costs defies economic logic. With the current market situation, the value of homes and rental units is decreasing, but Vanderbilt seems to operate in the reverse. Sure, there has been an increase in the price of utilities, but surely no one thinks charging students more for a single in Kissam than a two-bedroom apartment off campus is entirely reasonable.

There is also a question as to why the rising sophomores were allowed to use ballots — a luxury not given to rising juniors, who during the random selection process were unable to be on a ballot with other rising upperclassmen. This left many living in singles or doubles, separated from the friends they initially put on suite ballots. Giving priority to the rising sophomores, especially after the bitterness created by The Commons, is simply dangerous. While the administration is trying to help the current first-years adapt to living on main campus, seniority should be taken into consideration.

All things considered, the housing system has not made the necessary adjustments required to fit in the new system. More seniors remain on campus, Peabody campus is closed off to upperclassmen and utilities costs are rising — why wasn’t this factored in? Or better yet, if it was factored in, how was the housing process allowed to operate in the way it has?

Jakubowski has been put in a difficult situation. He has to rectify and reconcile problems he himself didn’t create. While it’s usually practical to wait as the situation improves, Housing will continue to cause problems unless someone directly intervenes. The current situation is untenable and should be fixed immediately. Students should expect some cutbacks as Vanderbilt addresses its financing issues, but housing isn’t one of them.