Birmingham, AL - Some 800 UAB freshman will move into campus housing, carrying in everything from ironing boards and microwaves to computers and Teddy bears. Hundreds of upperclassmen volunteers - sororities, fraternities athletes and others- will be on hand to carry belongings, distribute water and offer helpful information about the UAB undergraduate experience.

This will take place on Saturday, August 16 from 11am to 2pm at Blazer Hall located on the UAB campus green between University Boulevard and 10^th Ave. S., off 16^th St. S., directly behind the UAB Recreation Center. If you want shots of completed rooms, arrive at 2 p.m.

This freshman class will be the first to enjoy the new Campus Green, bordered by the Camp and Blazer residence halls, the Dining Commons, Campus Recreation Center, Chemistry Building and the newly opened Heritage Hall academic building.

 UAB has about 1,900 residential students, that's about 18 percent of the estimated 11,000 undergraduates students. Final enrollment numbers are not yet available, but total UAB enrollment last year was 17,330.

 Deb Lucas from UAB Media Relations will be on hand to assist reporters and photographers. Call cell: 908-6808.

2008 UAB Freshman Facts

• More than half of the incoming 2008 freshman class - about 800 students - will make student housing their home away from home.

• Freshmen who live on campus at UAB score, on average, half a grade point higher than their off-campus freshmen peers.

• About 8 out of 10 freshmen who live on campus return to UAB their sophomore year, compared to 6 out of 10 for off campus UAB freshmen.

• One vital element in the freshmen success stats above is the service, support, and supervision provided by UAB residence hall staff. Resident assistants are full-time student live-in staff. Residence life coordinators are full-time professional live-in staff. Both help provide a safe and secure environment, get to know their residents and provide helpful programs and activities that help students adjust to college life, succeed academically and build social support networks within the halls and around campus.

• The staff to student ratio in UAB Student Housing is 1 to 26 for freshmen and 1 to 40 for other residents.

• Students who live on campus never share a bathroom with more than one other person.

Blazer Hall:  UAB's freshman residence hall was awarded runner up in the 2008 Dorms of Distinction contest in the August issue of University Business magazine adding to the accolades the building has garnered since its opening in fall 2006. Blazer Hall has 753 beds and features two- and three-bedroom suites in addition to study rooms on each floor for convenience. Amenities include a theater room and a game room that features a 50-inch plasma TV and a Wii. Air hockey, foosball and arcade games soon will be added. Blazer Hall also is host to a Freshman Learning Community class in the Residence Life Center classroom. It was honored regionally by South Central Construction Magazine as the Best Education Project of 2006. In 2006 and 2007, Blazer Hall was honored with the City of Birmingham's Keep Birmingham Beautiful Award for outstanding landscape design.