About 90 first-year students in Marquette's Honors Program have expressed written concern in the form of a petition about policy changes in housing sign-up.

This year, the Office of Residence Life has ended its "squatters' rights" policy, which gave priority in housing sign-ups to students who wanted to remain in their current rooms as well as students who wanted to move to a different room in the same building, said Jim McMahon, assistant vice president and dean of residence life.

McMahon said after students pay their $200 housing deposit, they receive a randomly assigned sign-up time on Marquette's Web Window. He said current freshmen will be given priority for sign-ups since it is mandatory they live in a residence hall sophomore year.

First-year honors students housed in Straz Tower have written a petition expressing their concern with the loss of squatters' rights, according to College of Arts & Sciences freshman honors student Brigette Brennan.

"Most of the Honors Program, four floors of us, are concerned that the new raffle system will spread us across campus," Brennan said.

Brennan said the honors students have built a community and entered the program with the understanding that the living arrangements would continue into their sophomore year.

The petition, written by College of Engineering first-year sophomore honors student Vicki McDonald, was presented to McMahon on Monday with approximately 90 signatures, McDonald said. Currently, there are 100 first-year students enrolled in the Honors Program, according to Anthony Peressini, co-director of the Honors Program and associate professor of philosophy.

According to Straz Tower residence hall director Rachel Hermanson, there are 374 residents of Straz Tower.

"We were all under the impression that despite the change in 'squatters' rights' for the upcoming school year, we would be ensured priority in what we were told was the Honors Program dorm when we accepted the invitation to join the program," the petition states. "We simply ask that the Office of Residence Life and Marquette University uphold the promise made to us upon acceptance to the Honors Program. We request your consideration of reinstating priority housing in Straz Tower for students in the Honors Program for the 2004-2005 school year."

McMahon said there was no promise that honors students will be assigned to Straz Hall for two years, but is an inference the students are making.

"The Honors Program directors have made it very clear that's not what it means," McMahon said.

A letter was sent out to parents on Oct. 10, 2003, McMahon said, informing them of the changes in the housing policies.

"We made the changes at the beginning of the academic year and communicated them early, so there should be no surprises," McMahon said. "I hope students understand the changes, but they don't have to like them."

At Monday's meeting between McMahon and two honors students representatives, McMahon said they discussed possbile communication problems and how they may have happened, as well as possible solutions. He said he offered to come to Straz Tower to talk to students about the issue.

Peressini said he understands why the students; want to remain together, but the program never promised honors students priority in housing sign-ups.

"We only guaranteed and offered housing (in Straz Tower) for first year students," Peressini said.

McMahon said the squatters' rights policy was terminated not only to prioritize current freshmen, but also because many upperclassmen did not take advantage of this policy.

The decision to end squatters' rights was not made in isolation, McMahon said, but with the help of Marquette Student Government and the Residence Hall Association.

In the new policy, returning students are given preference over incoming and transfer students, and current first-year students are given priority over all. McMahon said the old hierarchy gave first priority to students who wanted the same room, then to students who wanted a different room in the same hall, putting freshmen at the bottom of the list.

He said this year, with such a large freshman class, there is a "driving desire" to place all incoming sophomores into tradtionally sophomore halls such as Straz Tower, Mashuda Hall, Schroeder Hall and Carpenter Tower.