By Jared Spinelli

It is no secret that there is hardly any extra space around Northeastern’s freshman dorms for anything. Therefore, the underground art form of dorm food storage has long been a specialty among freshman students. Whether it is potato chips, popcorn or fruit roll-ups, the bottom line is pretty much every freshman has something stored away for a late night snack or a sudden hunger strike. According to Northeastern’s Department of Residential Life, cooking items such as frying pans, hot plates, microwave ovens, toaster ovens and all electrical cooking equipment (including the George Foreman grill) are prohibited in freshman dorm rooms. For a substitute, if a freshman wants a microwave, they have to rent out a micro-fridge that costs $215 a year, which also carries a $50 damage fee. The microwave, of course, is essential in the preparation of one of the more popular dorm foods: Ramen noodle soup. Brandon Sutton, a freshman biology major, brought a 24-pack of Ramen noodles. Sutton also brought along with him a five-gallon Poland Spring water fountain, which is popular between him and his two roommates (they each have a cup with their name on it, and a fourth cup with “guest” on the side). “Well, my brother had one, and I figured I could make Ramen noodles way easier with something like this,” Sutton said. There is clearly an abundance of food in the freshman dorms, and with freshman meal plans being required, many people wonder why there is so much food in such tight living quarters. There are many different reasons, but two of the more popular responses are attributed to schedule constraints and just flat out laziness. “Sometimes I’m just too lazy to walk to the cafeteria,” said Maggie Winterfeldt, a freshman music industry major. “Especially for breakfast.” Winterfeldt lives in White Hall, which has one of the longer walks on campus to the Levine Marketplace cafeteria at Stetson East. About their remarkably plentiful food storage, a few freshmen said that the reason they have so much food is because they have different schedules than their friends, and prefer not to eat in the cafeteria by themselves. In other words, they would rather have a sandwich inside their dorm room watching TV than eat by themselves at a cafeteria table, a problem that a lot of freshman have. Then come the “illegal” imports into the freshman dorms. George Foreman grills have been spotted in many rooms, tucked away neatly in a drawer or underneath beds. While outlawed by the powers that be in the university, dozens (maybe hundreds) of students still find a way to get past campus residential life security. Foreman grills are useful when you have a craving for a hot meal in your room late at night. In one dorm room, grilled cheese sandwiches are an extreme favorite amongst the grill owner and his friends (who asked to remain anonymous). Few things make some students happier than walking into Wollaston’s Market and going on a little shopping spree. Students going into the store with the mindset of getting a bag of chips usually ends up walking out with something along the lines of two bags of chips, a 3-pack of Ramen noodles (3 for $1), two cans of Chef Boyardee beef ravioli, a box of NutriGrain bars (the breakfast choice when you’re not hungry), and, oh yeah, a two-liter bottle of Gatorade. Some students are in agreement that extra food makes a big difference. When you are typing away on the computer trying to make deadlines, those snack foods come in handy. So here is something to do, next time in a dorm room, open the door, and go to the room nextdoor, and see what they have to eat. Chances are they have got something in there you have not thought of. Ask them for a free sample of that something, and then move on to the next room. Before you know it, you’re back at your room, and stuffed from all the food you ate. Repeat as necessary.