Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : EDUCATION : UCI Overcrowding a Problem

John Moore was present when class began, but he was not very interested in the lecture being presented by University of California, Irvine, professor Guy Sircello. Moore was counting noses, hoping he would not have to turn away any of the students gathering in Edwards University Cinema, across the street from the campus.

As it turned out, there were about 25 scattered empty seats, and Moore, a county fire inspector, was satisfied.

“No problems today,” Moore said, standing in the lobby of the theater where the university leases space to hold some of its larger lectures. A day earlier, Moore had found 35 people sitting on the floor of a packed hall, prompting threats that students would be turned away.

“It appears the problem has been rectified,” Moore said.

The problem is overcrowding, which has plagued the Irvine campus in recent years--affecting class size, housing, traffic and parking.

This year, university officials said, as many as 452 students have enrolled in classes that meet in the theater with two auditoriums that are designed to hold 350 or 380 people.

Among the reasons for severe overcrowding this year are UCI’s growing popularity and new application procedures that make it easier for high school seniors to apply to more than one University of California campus for admission.