Jon Miller '15 argues that though freshman vie for West Campus sophomore housing, less popular on-campus options deserve a second look.

Rising sophomores will now be the first to choose on-campus housing each spring, after President David Skorton approved the Student Assembly’s Resolution 13 last week. Currently, rising seniors are given the priority in the housing lottery, so they pick housing on the first day of selection. Rising juniors choose on the second day, and rising sophomores choose last. Beginning in spring 2011, this order will be reversed.

For at least one of their years on the Hill, on-campus housing is an integral and unique part of nearly every Cornellian’s college experience. As 17- and 18-year olds leave behind the comforts of home for the residence halls and program houses of North Campus, they are presented with a year-long living situation that very well might make or break their Cornell experience.

The number of individuals diagnosed with probable H1N1 at Gannett has slightly increased during the past two weeks, yet such statistics remain drastically lower than those during the peak of the illness at the beginning of the semester.

Student Assembly members discussed a series of three resolutions designed to bolster student involvement in the selection of resident housing directors at yesterday’s meeting. The plans include the restructuring of the general housing lottery system and the creation of in-house housing lottery systems in the Collegetown dorms like those on West Campus.

In anticipation of an increase in the size of its incoming freshman class, Cornell is preparing to adopt a flexible housing plan to accommodate the needs of its students.

The University, expecting to enroll 3,150 students, 100 more than the usual exepected freshman class size at Cornell, will likely have to implement a similar housing arrangement for the Class of 2013 as it had done for this year’s freshmen class.

Cornell was able to free space this year on North Campus by expanding doubles into triples, forcing an more cramped but necessary living situation for some freshmen.

Last week’s housing lottery highlighted concerns over whether the West Campus housing system is evolving into an increasingly two-tiered hierarchy of living options. While many students were satisfied with their assignment to rooms in the new dormitories, those assigned to the Gothics expressed concern over a mounting discrepancy between their accommodations and those provided to their peers.

Proponents of the new residential initiative argue that the house system has positively influenced the overall quality of living on West Campus, but some students are concerned that the Gothics have been left behind by the initiative.