Where are you going to live?

By Melissa Peterson

Leases, roommates and housing applications: in the not-so-distant future, the time will come once again to figure out where you'll be sleeping during the next school year.

Dunne,off-campus housing or a cardboard box on Market Street will all be tempting offers by the end of the selection process, which can run the gammet from quick and painless to root canal-like. Having an idea of just where you'd like to park your cd player and textbook collection can definitely make the process run smoother.

Here's what to expect from a few of the options available around campus:

Dunne Residence Hall: This seems to be the dorm of choice for soon-to-be sophomores, although as a resident of Dunne, I couldn't exactly tell you why. Don't get me wrong - it's a great place - but the fuss is beyond me. There's the popularly held notion that Dunne is the second-year version of Swig, but that mammoth is an experience unto itself, and for better or for worse remains unduplicated. I do highly suggest checking out the shower scene in this building; some wings have wonderful facilites, others not so wonderful.

The Alamedas: The jury is still out on the Alamedas. Some people love it: It's a party all the time. Some people hate it: It's a party all the time. Either way you take on this facet, residents of this converted motel are sitting across campus from the remainder of the on-campus students. Some cite the distance factor as an issue, but others insist it's only a mild annoyance if that. The rooms are definitely the largest on campus (23 ft. by 12 ft.), which can alleviate some of that dorm-room claustrophobia.

Casa Italiana: In a corner pocket of campus, tucked away behind Sanfilippo Residence Hall, reside a handful of students in single rooms. Each has ample privacy in his or her carpeted little holes, but with as much privacy comes as much separation. The dorm theme (Italian culture, if you hadn't caught on from the name) does add a charming quality to the place, in which students eat some of their meals within its confines. Choosing to live in Casa comes down to a personality call: Is privacy worth a little bit of isolation to you?

Off campus: Hassles and rewards, more hassles and more rewards: Off-campus living offers a mixed bag of coming-of-age experiences, at least from what I've been told. I've heard horror stories of nightmare landlords or uncompromising roommates, but I've also heard how wonderful moving into the world of semi-adultness can be. The bottom line in all of the positive and negatives seems to be to maintain communication at all costs, with parents (or whoever's forking over the hefty monthly rent costs), housemates and landlords.

Wherever you end up in the ensuing years, I highly suggest organization and efficiency in your search for suitable housing. Off-campus housing can be tricky; start your search early. On-campus housing deadlines will sneak up soon after spring break, so now's the time to be thinking and planning ahead a bit. Either way, I send luck to all of us endeavoring to hunt for housing. We'll need it.