Knoxville entrepreneurs kicked to the curb. >>See page 4
“You see, I like being loud.” >>See page 6
Knoxville pizza place knows how to party. >>See page 7
Unwilling nomad Overflow housing displaces international students
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Hannah Marley
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1: Clement Hall 2: Laurel Hall 3: Andy Holt Apartments 4: Morrill Hall 5: Clement Hall
Staff Writer
Each year, 7,000 students, including 400 international students, check out a rolling cart and move into campus housing. From the suburbs of Seoul to the streets of Rio de Janeiro, international students travel thousands of miles to make Knoxville their new home, yet for many, the process of finding permanent housing becomes more of a hassle than a service. Thais Regina, an international Brazilian student studying chemical engineering, said that in the one year she has lived at UT, she has been forced to move five times by university housing. Regina claims that she knows fellow Brazilians in the international student program that were forced to move at least four times last fall. “I don’t understand why this is happening,” Regina said. “We emailed them (UT Housing) asking for the budget, asking for an explanation or an extension for two more days because some of us were traveling, and they just said ‘no.’” Regina moved from Clement Hall to Laurel Hall, and was later joined by other Brazilians in relocating to Apartment Residence Hall or the Andy Holt Apartments. Thais Regina From there they were moved to Morrill Hall, only to be returned to Clement Hall again, adding that each time, UT housing representatives gave her no explanation for the move and required her to leave two days after receiving notice. To make matters more difficult, many international students like Regina lack a means of transportation and are more often than not unfamiliar with the area. Denied the chance to argue her case, Regina has often been left frustrated by what she sees as mistreatment at the hands of UT Housing. “Why does housing treat us like that and they aren’t even open to conversation, to dialogue about how it could be good for us,” Regina explained. Kyujung Choi, an international student from South Korea studying at the English Language Institute, faced similar issues when moving from Morrill Hall to permanent housing for the fall semester. Choi was placed in overflow housing, which consisted of three beds moved into a converted kitchen space in Hess Hall, for over a week before being asked to move to Massey with less than 24-hours notice and no explanation. “They asked me when I want to move to Massey, I said maybe on the weekend, and then bam, you need to move right now,” Choi said. “They had already changed my card access so I couldn’t get into Hess to move.”
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Illustration by Justin Keyes Photos by Esther Choo
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I don’t understand why this is happening.”
See INTERNATIONAL on Page 3
Volume 130 Issue 8
utdailybeacon.com @utkdailybeacon
Friday, August 28, 2015