founded in 1830, the male choir Orphei Drängar, founded in 1853, and the Academy Chamber Choir of Uppsala, founded in 1957. A number of other choirs and orchestras are affiliated with the nations. An important name in the recent history of the choirs is Eric Ericson, who was the conductor of both Orphei Drängar and the Chamber Choir. In honour of Ericson, the FöreningsSparbanken endowed the Eric Ericson Chair in Choral Directing, and the Uppsala University Choral Centre was inaugurated in 2000. The centre arranges courses in choral directing. Uppsala universitets Körcentrum Housing crisis Like many cities, there is a shortage of housing in Uppsala, a problem which has existed for many years. Both native Swedes and foreign students are finding it difficult to find accommodation when first enrolling on the university. This problem is however not as bad as it was with several major housing construction projects having been completed after 2010. There has never been a custom in Sweden for the universities to arrange housing for students, in fact, universities are by law not allowed to own housing. Students are expected to set their own living accommodations on the private market. To make it easier for students to find moderately priced housing, special student rooms and student apartments have been built by the student nations and student unions. However, the student housing is insufficient to accommodate all students. About 40,000 students are eligible to live in the 11,000 available rooms and apartments. Because of the low rent in these apartments and the general lack of housing in Uppsala the student apartments are highly attractive and many try to hold on to the contracts as long as possible even after graduating. Housing Some of the most popular housing accommodations for students are Flogsta, Kantorsgatan, Studentstaden, Studentvägen, Klostergatan, Rackarbergsgatan and many more. Flogsta is one of the international students' biggest and most popular housing choices. Athletics Sports play a very small role in the life of the university, compared to British and especially U.S. universities, but have existed in various forms since the early 17th century. Uppsala University is more noted for its musical and choral traditions. Both have partial roots in the 17th-century institution of extracurricular exercises for students from the nobility. The To ease the recruitment of students from the nobility, the university started in the 1630s to offer training in a number of or "exercises" (Swedish: )