The Bond Revenue Committee voted Tuesday to place a new convenience center in Thomas Hall and not in Stevenson Hall, another location that was considered.

The committee also discussed the possibility of lowering the previously discussed 6 percent increase in room and board rates, because preliminary numbers indicate a possible rise in the number of residence hall residents for the next academic year.

The committee choose to locate the convenience center in the South Quad despite some lobbying on behalf of locating it in the North Quad.

The committee received a letter from the “North Campus” citing its unavailability of dining options as a chief reason why the convenience center should be located in the Stevenson Dining Center. The letter also conjectures that the convenience center at Carman Hall would lose business if a convenience center was put in Thomas Hall.

But Mark Hudson, director of Housing and Dining, said the convenience center makes more sense in the South Quad because more students are housed there. He also made the point that once the food court opens, residents of the north campus will have more variety.

“The new food court is like a $4.5 million convenience store,” he said.

Interim President Lou Hencken has said the new food court is scheduled to open before the month of February begins.

Hudson said a majority of business at the Carman convenience center is done at night, so the logical location of the next center would be where the most foot traffic is in the evenings, which would be the South Quad.

“I think the north end of campus will balance pretty soon,” he said.

The north campus will also benefit from the Panther Pantry in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union that just opened and the new coffee shop when it opens, Hudson said.

If there is still a need later, a third convenience center is always a possibility, committee members said.

The committee also discussed allowing residence hall students to bring their own microwave instead of forcing them to rent ones from a specific company.

Hudson presented the possibility of ending the exclusive contract with the company that supplies microfridges and thus letting students bring their own microwaves.

Currently, the only microwaves allowed in student rooms are the microfridges because they have a safety mechanism to prevent circuit overloads.

Ending the contract would take $8,000 from the budget, but it would be more convenient for students, Hudson said. Such a policy would be implemented with certain restrictions on wattage and size.

Hudson said he will bring the issue before the Residence Hall Association Thursday for discussion.

As of Friday’s Bond Revenue Committee meeting, room and board rates faced a possible 6.02 increase for nest academic year. However, at Tuesday’s meeting Hudson said some small items have been reworked to get that number down to 5.95 percent.

Currently, room and board rates are about $2,300 per semester depending on the meal plan chosen. A 5.95 percent increase would equal about $135 per semester.

Hudson said that as of Monday 899 applications had been received for housing. Last year at this time 645 had been received, so the numbers are already up by 250, he said.

Preliminary numbers for the budget figured on an overall increase of 100 residents, taking into account the likelihood of current residents moving to off-campus housing.

Because of the high number of applications already received, Hudson asked the committee if that number could be bumped up to a conservative estimate of 125. Increasing this number would account for the additional revenue to be received and would further lower the now 5.95 percent increase to around the 5.6 percent area.

The committee will meet again next Tuesday to make final decisions on next year’s housing rates.