Survival Guide 2005: D-F

DEAN'S LIST - A relatively unimportant issue for some, but since it seems to be asked about pretty often, we'll include it anyway. It's really not that hard to get on the Dean's list, with a 3.0 GPA typically required for a full-time student. If you make it to the Dean's list, it should be noted on your transcript within a few weeks.

DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES - Agency which assists students with any sort of physical impairment, hidden disability or chronic medical condition and offers counseling. Located in Room 128 of the ECC Building (between Psychology and Javits), Tel. 632-6748, http://studentaffairs.stonybrook.edu/disabilityservices/.

DORMING - Dorming can either be a memorable, enjoyable experience, or can go sour very quickly, depending on a number of factors, including your building, your roommate/suitemates, your neighbors, and the staff (RHD's and RA's) of your building. The convenience of dorming, of course, is unmatched, as you are literally just a couple of minutes away from most places on campus, and are around thousands of other students who you can interact with. There are two main types of dorm buildings: those with corridor-style rooms and those with suite-style rooms. The corridor style rooms are basically a large bedroom for two students, with no living room or private bathroom-there are men's and women's bathrooms for an entire hallway. What these rooms tend to lack in personal space, they seem to make up for in terms of a more vibrant social life than suite-style rooms. Suites contain 2 to 3 double bedrooms, and a bathroom and living room shared among the residents of the suite.

Here are some tips and advice on a number of different dorming-related issues:

• Getting along with your roommate: Sometimes, especially if you are an incoming freshman and have no choice over who you will be living with, this is a tough one. Try to be friendly and open from day one, and definitely try to be considerate of the others' space. Relations between roommates tend to go sour, most often, due to a lack of communication. You may not end up being best friends with whoever you are living with, but as long as you can get along on some level and respect each other's right to be there, there shouldn't be that much of a problem.

• Problems with roommates/suitemates/neighbors: That said, even a student with the best of intentions might end up living with someone they just can't get along with. If you can't resolve the problem with your roommate, attempt to bring it up to the RA. There are multiple RA's in each dorm building, one for every section, and it is their responsibility to keep things in order. If you try that and still feel that your problem isn't getting resolved, move up a step, and talk to the RHD, who oversees the entire dorm building. Hopefully they will be able to assist, to save you further troubles and to avoid the hassle of dealing with Campus Residences, which, unfortunately, has often proven to be very ineffective and inconsiderate of students' problems.

• Room Inspections: Every month or so, RA's come by your room and inspect the premises. You usually have 24 hours' warning and they basically make sure that everything is clean and that there are no safety hazards. They will also look for anything that you are not supposed to have (microwave ovens, candles, pets, etc.) but are not allowed to touch or search through anything.

• RA's: Like we said, one in each section of the building. Try not to badger them with silly problems, and keep in mind that it's the luck of the draw with RA's as much as with anything else…some are friendlier and more laid back than others. RA's will respond to such things as noise complaints and have been known to break up parties that are too noisy, have too many people in a room or some such thing (that's assuming they themselves aren't partying, of course). They also occasionally hold hall meetings.

• LEG: Each building has its own "legislature," which receives an allocation from the student government which can be used in whichever way is decided…anything from organizing a barbecue, to a basketball tournament, to purchasing a new pool table. In most building, they tend to meet on Tuesday evenings in the building's main lounge or classroom space. A president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary are elected before each semester begins.

• RSP: These are the students that you will see roaming campus in teams of two or more, usually wearing jackets bearing the RSP letters. They go around closing doors which have been propped open, check ID cards of students entering dorm buildings after a certain hour, and can respond to or report emergency situations. Not a favorite of other students on campus.

• Guest Policy: Typically, each resident is entitled to bring in up to three guests with him/her at any one time, and in theory at least, they need to be registered with the RA on duty or some other such figure. If you're planning on having a party, it is also suggested that you mention it to your roommates or suitemates and make sure that they are OK with it as well.

• Quiet Lifestyle: There are some buildings that have sections designated as “24 hour quiet,” and generally, these sections are quieter than other parts, though that isn't always a guarantee and this doesn't always seem to be enforced. Many dorm buildings also have quiet study rooms and lounges to use if there are too many distractions in your room.

• Holidays: The buildings stay open during breaks such as Thanksgiving, but hardly anybody is around, and we feel bad for the lonely souls who have no other choice but to stay. At the end of each semester, i.e. during Winter Break, the dorm buildings are closed and you have no access to those rooms until the following semester, even if you are keeping the same room.

• Choosing a room: This process tends to begin in April, and there is typically some paperwork to be filed. If you intend on staying in the same room or at the very least in the same building, the process is generally as simple as putting your signature on paper. If you choose to move to another building, in most cases, all you need to do is denote it on your application and then go to that particular building during room selection. If you have a friend or friends who want to live in the same suite as you, all you simply need to do is find a suite that has enough spaces available. The only exception to all of the above are the West Apartments, where heavy preference is given to seniors and juniors, especially those with good GPA's.

• Changing a room: While the semester is in progress, this is extremely difficult to do, but if you have a serious reason to, you may be able to convince Campus Residences to allow you to make the change, depending on whether or not there are other rooms available. It is a bit easier to make the change before Winter Break, as there are a number of rooms which become available at that time. Switching into a different room for the upcoming academic year, however, is a much easier process (described above).

• Work Orders:  If something that is campus-owned (such as a door, desk, wall, bed, window, bathroom fixture, etc.) needs to be repaired, you will need to submit an online work order, which can be found at the following URL: http://vector-sigma.campres.sunysb.edu/weblink/wlmain.asp.

The Division of Campus Residences oversees all dorming on campus.  Our experience has told us this agency tends to not always be the most helpful or responsive to student needs, but if you are dorming, you will most likely have to deal with this office at one time or another.  Their office is located in Mendelsohn Quad (the main entrance faces Nicolls Road, an inconvenient trip from the rest of campus).  Tel. 632-6750.  http://studentaffairs.stonybrook.edu/res.

DRINKING - There was a time when the legal drinking age was 18, and each dorm building on campus featured its very own student-run pub or coffee house. Those days are long, long gone, and most of those pubs and coffee houses have been converted into “recreation rooms” which few students seem to utilize. However, as at most other college campuses, drinking is a fact of life for many students. The only venue on campus which serves alcohol is the University Café, in the rear of the Union, however, a strict 21-and-over policy is enforced in the evenings, when drinks are served.

What does that leave us? For most students, parties in dorms. Parties happen all the time, though Stony Brook won't be mistaken anytime soon for a serious, hardcore party school. Most dorm room parties are relatively small, and the size and extent to which these parties are rowdy depends on the students involved, as well as the RA's and RHD's of each building, who may or may not choose to turn a blind eye (we can't make any guarantees). It's not uncommon for parties to get broken up, but it's also not uncommon for many parties to last into the wee hours of the next morning. Thursdays are typically the traditional party night on campus, and a walk through the hallways of most buildings those evenings will turn up a few parties…we can't guarantee that you'll be welcome in each one, though.

There's also various favorite spots for drinking off campus, including the Full Moon Café on Route 25A and various other clubs and bars which spring up each year, and change names so often that we can't keep track. Though it's technically illegal, promoters freely distribute flyers to such establishments throughout campus, so you'll definitely catch word about these places sooner or later.

FACEBOOK/MYSPACE - The nationwide phenomenon has also swept Stony Brook by storm, and literally thousands of students have already set up accounts on both of these sites, as well as online groups and message boards. If you don't know what these are, check them out, even if you don't start your own account. http://www.facebook.com, http://www.myspace.com.

FINANCIAL AID - The first step towards receiving financial aid each year is to fill out the FAFSA, online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. It is a ridiculous, convoluted application, much like filing an income tax return, but absolutely vital if you hope to receive federal or state tuition assistance such as TAP or qualify for Stafford Loans. The best time to complete this application is December or January, and a few months later, you will likely receive your financial aid award decision in the mail. If you receive TAP or any other state or federal assistance, it should immediately apply to your tuition bill at Stony Brook, but always double and triple-check, as mistakes have been known to happen (and sometimes happen often). For any problems with tuition, billing or financial aid, contact the Bursar's office, in the lobby of the second floor of the Administration building, Tel. 632-9316, http://www.sunysb.edu/bursar. Financial Aid office: Administration building, room 180. Tel. 632-6840, http://www.sunysb.edu/finaid.

FOOD - One of the biggest questions of them all. If you are a resident, you are required to be on a meal plan (there are four levels, depending on how much you think you will spend in one semester). They are all quite pricey, and odds are that the first or second (bronze or silver) will be sufficient for you, unless you will be eating 3 meals a day, staying every weekend, and treating your friends. It's always wise to start low, as more money can be added to your meal plan at a later date. We say this because any leftover meal plan points (1 to a dollar), are not refunded, which leads to the familiar end-of-semester scene of students hoarding overpriced chocolates and boxes of cereal in order to use up their remaining points. Meal plans are divided into campus points, which can be used anywhere where meal plans are accepted except Jasmine, and a smaller amount of flex points, which can be used only at Jasmine, and leftover points can be used towards other dining areas as well if you run out of campus points. More information about the meal plans can be found at www.campusdining.org.

Click here for on-campus food reviews

Click here for off-campus food reviews

FRATERNITY AND SORORITY LIFE - Despite the rocks scattered throughout campus with the Greek letters painted on them, this is not a major school as far as fraternities and sororities go. They've only been around for about 20 years and have, quite honestly, limited appeal. That said, there are over 20 frats and sororities on campus, and they are fairly visible on campus-you will see them in force during rush week, likely see various pledges doing things like marching like soldiers in straight lines throughout campus, and likely see groups of students from the same organization decked out in their Greek letter jackets. The Inter-Fraternity Sorority Council oversees all Greek-letter organizations, http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/Clubs/ifsc.