ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 21, 1996 TAG: 9608210026
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
Kazuhisa Kabeya, a 30-year-old married father of one, flew from Tokyo to Roanoke by way of Detroit and arrived late Monday at Virginia Tech. By early Tuesday, he was seated in the Cranwell International Center wondering where he will live this school year.
Kabeya was sent to the United States to earn his master's degree in mechanical engineering by his company, NKK Corp., Japan's second-largest steel manufacturer. That means, "if possible, I don't want to have a roommate, because some people from NKK will visit me," Kabeya said Tuesday.
But he may have no choice. The housing scramble prompted by Tech's growing enrollment is well under way as Kabeya and his fellow international students arrive in town for their orientation, which starts today.
Many are surprised to find the dearth of housing, and most are putting in time at the school's Offcampus Housing Center, paging through listings of rentals and roommate offerings.
But there is good news: Many people seem to be finding housing - if after 20 or 30 disappointing phone calls. A few are finding their own apartments; more are finding roommates.
"We've been watching [the shortage] kind of carefully, and it looks like it's going to come out OK," Vice President for Student Affairs Lanny Cross said.
That means Tech won't rent a shuttle bus, or a motel to house students, as has been discussed. Cross added that the school started referring students to a large building being rented by a local business Tuesday, which may hold 20 or 30 people. But he also is sympathetic.
"This is not the way we want students to be introduced to the community," Cross said. Once the dust settles, he said, he wants to analyze how the shortage occurred.
Another Tech official described the situation as one where "there's a vacancy here and a vacancy there."
"There isn't the ideal situation where there are a lot of empty apartments where groups of people who want to live together can live together," said Ed Spencer, assistant vice president for student affairs.
About 30 dormitory rooms for women are available, he said. And, "just like we'll get no-shows on campus, people off-campus will be in the same situation."
By early next week, Spencer predicted, the housing picture will be much clearer.
The shortage is caused by an increase of 400 to 600 students, with an overall enrollment of about 24,200 expected. Tech expects enrollment to peak at 25,000 in the next five years, under its recently released master plan, called the University Plan.
With the housing shortage predicted all summer, the Offcampus Housing Center has advertised in local papers and church bulletins in an effort to find housing for students who may arrive unaware.
Although the dire predictions are not, so far, coming true, students say it's still disconcerting to fly halfway around the world to launch professional studies and have to scramble for a room.
"It is kind of uncomfortable," said Muhammad Khan, a Pakistani undergraduate who has attended Tech for two years. "You come here expecting to be taken care of, and all the sudden, you're presented with such a large problem."
Khan spent Tuesday working the desk of the temporary housing office in East Eggleston dormitory. Since Aug. 5, international students have been staying at the dorm, but graduate students were to be out by 6 p.m. Tuesday and undergraduates by today. With classes starting Monday, the dorms open for their new occupants this weekend.
Among those staying there is Yih Chai, a 22-year-old Malaysian engineering student. He shared a house with four others during his years on Long Island at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and wouldn't mind a roommate. After making "no less than 20" phone calls, his fingers were crossed early Tuesday. He had an appointment later in the day to see a student who was moving out of his apartment and needed a replacement.
Meantime, over at the Offcampus Housing Center, progress during the day was slow but steady.
"There was a guy in here yesterday; he'd been in the previous week looking for a place," said Raymond Curtis, a center worker. "Now he needs a roommate."
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