Campuses See Rising Demand for Housing

By ERIC HOOVER

Officials scramble to find more beds for upperclassmen

The numbers looked strange. In early March, the University of Missouri had received many more campus-housing contracts than it expected.

At first, Frankie D. Minor, the university's director of residential life, figured those numbers were "soft." Missouri allows students to withdraw their housing contracts without penalty until June 1. Each year many upperclassmen cancel their agreements after finding an off-campus rental,