Learning To Beat The Heat on Campus at St. Ben’s, St. John’s [AUDIO]

COLLEGEVILLE/ST. JOSEPH - Freshman students at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University are having a hard time getting a good night sleep on this first week of classes.  The freshmen dorms don't have air conditioning.

Dan McAvey is the Director of Residential Life and Housing.  He says they're allowing the young Johnnies to crash in cooler spaces.

However, McAvey says the students are not allowed to drag their mattress into Sexton Commons or the lounge. St. Ben's has lounges in basement of the freshman dorms, which allow for the Bennies to escape the heat there.

McAvey says the students are making the best of it.

Students at St. Ben's and St. John's moved back to campus last Thursday.  They started classes on Monday.

Meanwhile, St. Cloud State University has nine residence halls and two apartment complexes. Only one residence hall (Lawrence) and two apartment complexes have air conditioned student bedrooms. All other facilities have air conditioning in designated public spaces, such as main lobbies, TV lounges and technology centers. Since Sunday they have been encouraging students to take advantage of these public locations in their residence halls, as well as other locations on campus such as the Miller Center, Atwood Memorial Center and the extended hours at the Halenbeck Pool in order to beat the heat. They have also opened the Husky Den in Garvey Commons each night until 2:00 a.m. to provide another location for students to gather that is air conditioned. They also brought in portable air conditioning units to some of their older residence hall lobbies to help provide more relief for students.