I don't know how many of us are out there, but I'm a veteran and proud survivor of living on campus for my four years at Penn State.

I have lived in every corner of campus and have seen it all. Living on campus is very convenient, but I would like to take this opportunity to warn you all about some odd and downright ridiculous rules and to share some stories.

The first two absurdities would be in the dining commons. If you live on campus, chances are you will eat the bulk of your meals here.

As you probably know, you cannot, under any circumstances, take out anything from the commons when you leave except a sole piece of fruit or an ice cream cone.

Well, one day my former roommate decided to test this dining commons regulation by smuggling out a blueberry muffin and was met with some resistance.

The dining commons employee stopped us moments after we exited the scene of the crime and demanded us to give him the muffin.He told us we couldn't take muffins because students would eventually abuse the muffin privilege and start taking out sandwiches, and even whole plates of food.

Well, he ended up taking the muffin, which got us thinking --- what did he do with the muffin?

The employee had three options after my roommate and I closely examined the troubling dilemma. He could a) Put the muffin back b) Throw the muffin away or c) Eat the muffin.

Putting the muffin back would just not be right after someone else touched it and, of course, against dining commons regulations.

Throwing the muffin away would just be downright mean. You weren't supposed to take the muffin, so nobody's going to eat it. And I'm left thinking, "why waste a delicious muffin?"

So the only logical end of the story would be that this guy ate my roommate's muffin. What a jerk!

On the days of the special-theme dinners, the dining commons would be packed to capacity to the delight of everyone.

My favorite aspect of these dinners would definitely be the special meal you have to pay a little extra for. It was as if they were telling us, "I'm sorry, if you want some REAL food, you're going to have to pay a little extra for it."

If not, make some room for the chicken enchilada, shepherd's pie, glazed sweet and sour baby carrots...and don't forget the apple crisp for dessert. Mmmm.

After dinner, you go back to your dorm, but first you have to swipe yourself to get in, which brings me to ridiculous rule numero tres.

If you damage your ID card, you have to pay an extra $15 for a new one.

I can understand having to pay for a new one if you lost it, but if it's damaged after normal wear and tear, I would never pay for a new one.

In the beginning of my junior year, my ID card stopped scanning. I had it for about a year and a half.

Normal wear and tear, right?

Wrong!

I went to the ID card office and told the person at the desk my sad story. She said it would be $15 for a new card.

I was appalled, to say the least.

"But, it's normal wear and tear," I pleaded. But they just said it couldn't have been normal wear and tear because the cards were designed to last five to six years.

Then I started to get a little mad.

"Why would I purposely abuse my card?" I asked with disbelief.

ID cards probably get swiped at least a dozen times a day. It's eventually going to break.

Well, I left the office pretty ticked off and went back the next day, and eventually persuaded them to give me a free card. And I even got a new picture! Problem solved.

While I am on the topic of ID cards, I will bring up the piggy-back rule.

In short, you are not even allowed to enter a dorm building unless you swipe your own card or if someone who lives there lets you in and escorts you to their room. While, I agree that this is a good safety precaution, common sense should still be used.I often have the unfortunate problem of forgetting my ID card. Sometimes, I am left outside my own building waiting to get in.

Well, one day, I was waiting outside in the cold waiting to get inside my building. I left my ID card inside my room and when somebody came out, I made my way in after them.Well, unknown to me, that person was an RA in the building. He asked me if I could swipe my card through.

I told him that I left it in my room, so I had to call my roommate. Well, the roommate was gone, so I was not allowed in.

So, after all this, I wish you the best of luck if you want to live on campus.

But if you are living in North, eating overcooked flank steak and getting woken up at 3:30 a.m. for a fire drill in -5 degree weather, don't say I didn't warn you.