Campus Council members discussed the woes faced by orphan residents-students independent from a block but surrounded by one-at the group's general body meeting Thursday.
The two potentially disgruntled categories of non-blocking residents include those in singles-mainly juniors and seniors-who found themselves surrounded by blocks and students in independent doubles or triples surrounded by blocks, members agreed.
"I've had an increase in complaints from juniors and seniors in singles surrounded by blocks," said Jen Frank, assistant director of accommodations for Residence Life and Housing Services. "All singles are salt-and-peppered around campus. If you're in a single, you are probably surrounded by people you don't know."
Despite receiving frequent inquiries regarding why students in singles cannot block, Frank said there "just aren't enough singles near each other."
She prefaced the meeting by summarizing the history of blocking at Duke, which was introduced in 2000 and limited to single-sex groups of four, six, seven or eight. Currently, students can live in groups of four to 12 people in either a single-sex or co-ed block-an option introduced during Room Pix '08.
"Blocking has really evolved since it first began," said Campus Council Vice President Kevin Thompson, a senior.
Although the blocking system has improved in recent years, Thompson and the council said the experiences of independent students surrounded by a block need to be considered.
"We want to engender a community that [residents of independent rooms] can get from the housing system," Thompson said. "We shouldn't be putting them in a system that is making their experience worse."
Council members said the ultimate goal was to figure out what students want to achieve and to create a housing model to reach those goals.
Members discussed surveying independent students to determine their views on forming some community consisting of those who choose to block during Room Pix but are unable to as a result of a high lottery number. This year, 25 percent of those who chose to live in a block last Spring were separated but remain in the same quadrangle as other members of their block, and 10 percent were split entirely.
"We're creating a lot of isolation for those singles," Frank said.
The council did not reach any conclusions from its discussion.
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