Students hoping to spend 30 consecutive hours dancing for charity spent their Monday morning waiting in line at Norris University Center.

Many students camped out on the ground floor of Norris as early as 7:30 a.m. to ensure their spot in Dance Marathon’s 33rd year, said event co-chairwoman and Weinberg senior Nadia Rawls.

“The line was all the way up the stairs and up the front lobby by 8 a.m., and that stayed pretty consistent for at least a couple of hours,” Rawls said.

Dancer registration opened on the ground floor of Norris at 8 a.m. and closed at 2 p.m. Rawls said fewer than 100 of the 600 spots remain for dancers registering today at the same time.

Dancer couples arrived at the registration stations in Norris armed with an $80 check for registration and entered information into a computer database designed by Weinberg senior Eli Goodman. The database is different from the one DM used last year, the first year it began using computers to register dancers.

“It’s much simpler than last year; it’s much more clear-cut for our board and the people registering with it,” Rawls said.

In addition to the new database, DM’s executive board also did the accounting in bulk this year, rather than having dancers bring their checks to the Student Organization Finance Office individually, to expedite the registration process.

But Tatiana Rostovtseva, a SESP sophomore and DM chairwoman for Communications Residential College, said she thought the process was poorly organized. She arrived at Norris at 8:30 a.m. and waited in line until 10:55 a.m., she said.

“I did come in expecting some delay, but it seemed there were easy solutions to the waiting that could have been implemented easily – maybe a more innovative measure such as having us fill (registration forms) out online or being able to pay by credit card online so you don’t have to do anything,” Rostovtseva said.

This year DM is raising money for Citizens’ United for Research in Epilepsy and the Evanston Community Foundation.

– Amanda Palleschi