Jason Krigel began his college search with a firm idea of what he wanted: a school that emphasized arts and entertainment activities and a place where the students seemed generally happy.

But he also wanted a place to live.

“A major concern about coming to NU was that I was going to have a housing problem,” said the Weinberg freshman, who lives in Allison Hall. “It almost made me decide not to come here.”

Krigel wants to live in Allison again, but on Monday he drew 2,350 out of 4,000 in the annual housing lottery. And last year, 743 was the highest lottery number to guarantee a spot at Allison for men. With only about 2,200 spaces available to returning students — 1,900 are reserved for freshmen — Krigel worries he may not find on-campus housing at all.

Krigel is not alone. In 1999, 2,435 students drew lottery numbers and paid a $200 deposit to guarantee a room. But only 2,214 non-Greek spaces were available, a 221-bed shortfall. Although university housing opened with vacancies in September, administrators and students say they are dissatisfied with the lottery system and the availability of undergraduate housing in general. And until administrators secure funds to build new dorms, lottery losers will have to scramble for spots in the dorms.

Or, like Krigel, they can wait — and hope friends draw a low enough number to pull them into one of their desired dorms.

“Now, I feel like myself and many of my friends are in limbo,” he said. “I don’t really know at this point what I’m going to do.”

Looking for Change

Since 1965, the housing lottery has determined where returning students will live. But administrators say the system’s number may be up.

“Goodness gracious, I think everybody would like to see something else,” said Bill Tempelmeyer, director of university housing administration. “But right now we don’t know what that is.”

Vice President for Student Affairs Peggy Barr says she would eventually like to eliminate the system.

“My ultimate goal is to have enough housing that we don’t have to have the lottery,” she said. “I don’t want to have anything where students are forced to do something that’s not their first choice.”

Education sophomore Christy Storm didn’t get her first choice of Bobb-McCulloch last year. But her number, in the mid-1,700s, was low enough to get into Goodrich House, an all-women dorm on North Campus. Although initially disappointed, Storm says she was pleasantly surprised by her new dorm.

“It ended up going pretty well,” she said. “I’m happy here. My first priority was living up north. The dorm doesn’t matter as much as proximity (to friends).”

But while some are happy with their fifth or even sixth choice, in 1999 it took a draw of 1,501 to snag the first spot on the waiting list. Many students who draw high numbers don’t even bother with the list, instead seeking alternate housing options.

Take Mike Scalzitti, for instance. On Monday, the Speech freshman drew 3,921.

“It’s a reflection of life, and how life hates me,” said Scalzitti, a Speech freshman. “I don’t think this is a number I could sell very easily.”

But Scalzitti is a resident of Willard Residential College. Like the 10 other residential colleges on campus, Willard offers residents a room for the next year if they earn a specified amount of points by participating in dorm activities. The 2000-01 housing lottery guide lists 1,271 spaces available in residential colleges.

Scalzitti said the housing lottery would have been devastating if not for the residential college system.

“If I didn’t have something to fall back on, (picking 3,921) would have been pretty crushing,” said Scalzitti. “I’d probably be living out in the cold, or in a really small single somewhere.”

Students in the Greek system can live in their houses. Another option — though illegal — is to buy a lottery number from a more fortunate lottery participant. If caught, Tempelmeyer says, both buyer and seller will be denied university housing.

And for the first time this year, squatter’s rights have been eliminated. The new policy prevents residents of a building from keeping their old rooms if they have a good enough number to enter the building. They still may live in the building, but they won’t have priority over those with lower lottery numbers. Administrators say the system should curtail the selling of lottery numbers.

Despite changes, neither administrators nor students are satisfied.

“I do think it’s a lousy system,” Storm said, “but I don’t know how they would fix it.”

Building Blocks

Administrators say they have a solution: build more living facilities. Last year, the $10.5 million Kemper Hall opened, but one dorm is not enough to solve the housing crunch.

“You can’t eliminate (the lottery) completely until you build at least one more dorm,” said University President Henry Bienen. “If we build one more dorm, it wouldn’t eliminate the lottery, but people wouldn’t worry much about it.”

The primary issue is funding. University construction projects, including projects in NU’s recent building spree, sometimes begin with only partial funds. For example, the $200 million Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center will begin construction with only $150 million raised.

Bienen says he is reluctant to build a new dorm without first securing adequate funding.

“Should we bite the bullet on funding? At that point it becomes a question of how much risk you can absorb, and I thought we were getting near the border,” he said.

Administrators say they have yet to receive a donation to build a new dorm.

“We’ve been looking for a lead donor,” said Ronald Vanden Dorpel, vice president for university development. Vanden Dorpel says a lead gift — the donation necessary to begin planning a new facility — would be between $4 million and $5 million.

The university has approached several donors but thus far has had no luck. Vanden Dorpel says a new dorm is a high priority.

And if the demand for more housing grows severe, Bienen says he might build housing despite funding shortfalls.

“If I were persuaded that it was so absolutely crucial to the health and well-being of the students here, I would do it,” he said.

Meanwhile, like other students who didn’t hit the housing lottery jackpot, Krigel ponders his options.

“It’s not so much that I’m upset with the housing lottery,” he said. “I understand that they only have so much housing, and that this way is probably as fair as any. But I at least think (new dorms) should be a priority in spending.”