Out of Tapatios? No problem, the dining hall is around the corner

Watson's borrowed pumpkins(above)
The items Illingworth used to further enhance his dorm(left).

College students have long been notorious for making the most out of a dollar and the dorm residents are certainly no exception.

Students have learned to stealthily borrow a few things from the dining hall to further furnish their dorm rooms. Take it from Zac Illingworth, a freshman mechanical engineering major whose 6’10" frame is hard not to notice.

“It was extremely easy. The card sliding employees don't get paid nearly enough to care, and the manager is rarely on the floor. In general, the easiest place to hide something is in the open. Because I'm so tall people suspecting theft rarely look to me because I'm such a target they think I could never get away with it" said Illingworth.

Illingworth and suitemates keep the non-perishable objects such as tableware (two knives, one cup, a salt and pepper shaker) in their common room and plan to keep them until broken.

Most residents will admit to putting food in a paper coffee cup to save for later. Some students such as William Watson, a sophomore and marine biology major, have learned to get creative. Watson managed to carry off a pumpkin that was being used for decoration.

Watson ended up making the pumpkin a jack-o-lantern for Halloween and using it to decorate the outside patio area of the International House.

Not all students believe that “borrowing” items from the dining hall is always acceptable. Freshman Natalie Pacheco said, “I believe taking food out of dining hall is acceptable, but when it comes to plates and silverware, its just going to cost next years residents even more to replace those items.”

CSULB residents rush to reapply for housing

CSULB housing residents, who previously did not have to worry about housing availability, now will have to scurry to reapply by Feb. 26 before the housing application is available to new students.

The sparsely inhabited dorms this year will soon be bombarded by freshman with the new freshman residential requirement. All incoming freshman for Fall 2010 will be required to live on campus unless 21 years old, living at home with a parent, married, or having a medical disability. New students will first have to be accepted to the university, apply for housing, before they can submit an exemption request.

The dorms can hold a maximum of 2,538 students; 1,930 residents currently on on campus this year according to the director of Housing and Residential Life, Carol Roberts-Corb.

According to the Housing Web site Residents who have been living on campus since 2008 will pay between a range of $7,600 to $8,000 depending on the meal plan. However returning 2009 residents will pay the same fee as new incoming student: between $10,050 to $10,450. All resident are required to purchase a meal plan in addition with the housing fee.

Roberts-Corb said, "We have guaranteed to our current residents that the room portion of their total room and meal cost will not increase for as long as they continuously live in Housing. Nor will we be increasing the room cost for incoming residents for 2010-2011."

Residents only have a two week period to apply before the new student's application will be available online. The application for new students will be available March 1.