Sounds of hammering, piles of sawdust and heaps of rejected bed frames greeted students entering dormitories this week. This year, the University supplied many West Campus rooms with "semi-loft" furniture, which includes smaller dresser units that can easily fit under new height-adjustable beds.
Many semi-lofted beds did not stay in their new homes for long as students replaced them with traditional lofts, which they say offer more space and comfort.
"If we loft the beds ourselves, we can fit a couch or a futon under them. [The semi-lofted beds] only offer a few extra feet," sophomore David Heaney said.
Other students complained that because the new dressers were designed to fit under the semi-lofts, the top surfaces, previously used to display photos and accessories, are no longer accessible.
A significant proportion of students agreed that the smaller lofts do not provide the extra space they had counted on as they packed their cars and organized their rooms.
"I had planned on building my own loft," sophomore Trent Corbin said. Instead, he is now devising a way to stack the beds or add plywood as an alternative to building an entirely new loft.
Students intending to replace completely their semi-lofted beds faced the problem of finding storage for the discarded bed frames. Heaney is attempting to utilize the wooden frame from his original semi-lofted bed in the construction of his higher loft.
Senior Annie Way was satisfied with the semi-loft bed she had last year and decided not to disassemble it this year.
"They are easy to bunk and not hard to adjust," Way said, although she acknowledged that climbing into the beds when they are on their highest settings can be difficult.
Students in the West-Edens Link do not have the option of replacing their semi-lofted beds. WEL resident Chris Dibble, a sophomore, said the "jury is still out" on whether he prefers a large loft, but he noted that a couch or a desk could not be squeezed under his current bed.
"I wish the mini-lofts could have been higher," added sophomore Adam Walsh, who also lives in the WEL.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.