Packing: here's what to buy, borrow, or steal

Congratulations—you got in! So, what are you going to bring with you?

Shipping your possessions from home is one of the first challenges you'll face as a Yale student. For those who live far from New Haven, shipping is the only alternative to loading up the family wagon with plastic crates and an old sofa. Just remember to pack your things in medium-sized boxes; carrying 50 pounds to the fifth floor is certainly not the best way to begin your freshman year.

FILE PHOTO Packing can test your muscles—and your patience.

United Parcel Service is the most popular shipping service, but it comes with a price: be prepared to stand in long lines during the first few weeks of school to reclaim your carefully-packed possessions. U.S. Mail, FedEx, and Air Freight Valet are quicker, with fewer lines when you arrive. Be sure to contact the service of your choice about size and weight limitations at least two weeks in advance. The companies will tell you when to mail your boxes to coordinate their arrival with yours.

Although the cheapest way to supply your school needs is to smuggle stuff from home, practically anything you forget can be found in New Haven. Contact your suitemates before your first shopping spree to find out who can provide what; you don't want to have a suite with six new Yalies, four stereos, and nary a chair among them.

Think of this Herald packing list as a series of suggestions, some necessary and others superfluous. Happy packing!

Interiors

• Lux et Veritas: Bring lamps—especially if you're living in Lawrance, Welch, Farnam, or Vanderbilt Hall, which have few or no overhead lights. Bring desk lamps, bed lamps, and floor lamps. Standing lamps are good for the common room, but remember that halogens are (technically) forbidden by the fire marshal.

• Couches, beanbags, futons, cushions: Yale provides a bed, dresser, chair, and desk for each of you, but you'll probably want somewhere to lounge. While at home, steal from your parents or check out the Salvation Army, thrift stores, and garage sales. Once at Yale, you can get to know upperclassmen by buying, borrowing, or somehow acquiring furniture from them. Extra cushions are good for window seats, couches, late-night pillow fights, etc.

• Rugs: Yale's wood floors create a traditional atmosphere, but they provide a cold welcome to bare feet on winter mornings. Rugs lend immeasurable coziness to a room, so bring your own or split the cost of one with your roommates. Remember, however, that any joint purchase may have to be divided up if you go separate ways later.

• Posters: To make your room more welcoming, bring your own wall hangings. Buying them nearby will only ensure that you have the same posters as everyone else.

• Poster hangers: As long as you're going to spend money on posters, you might as well keep them intact and reusable year after year. To preserve your posters and avoid tearing them, buy the nifty strips of metal available at the Yale University Art Gallery. Sticky tack and tape are available at Staples and the Yale Bookstore.

Bedding

• Sheets: Yale beds are extra-long; you can use normal sheets, but they're a tight fit. Extra-long sheets are available at most stores. Bring two sets to cut down on laundry.

• Body support: Eggcrate foam pads and bed boards lend comfort and support to sagging mattress springs.

Clothing

• Preparedness: The rule about New Haven weather is, "If you don't like it, wait 15 minutes, and it will change." Be ready with everything from shorts and T-shirts to long underwear, wool sweaters, and overcoats.

• Underwear and socks: The more, the merrier. You'll probably try to put off laundry as long as possible—or at least until you're down to your last few—so bring lots of extra pairs. Almost anything else can be worn five or more times (anti-social types will claim that this rule holds true for underwear as well, but we don't recommend it). For those occasions when laundry can no longer be avoided, you need a laundry basket or bag and detergent. (A cheap place to buy detergent is the Rite-Aid near campus on Whalley Avenue.)

• Duck boots: If you bring no other accessories, bring these warm, waterproof, and fashionably ugly boots. When it rains, puddles the size of inland seas form between the flagstones of Old Campus.

• Raincoat and umbrella: You'll need them in drizzly New Haven.

•Winter wear: New Haven winters get cold. Hats, scarves, thick coats, and warm gloves are a must. Think warmth over fashion.

Electronic equipment

• Computer and printer: You don't need a computer—there are public clusters all over campus, including one in every college and two on Old Campus—but it will make your life a lot easier if you bring your own. Either Macs or PCs are okay, and laptops are preferable if because it might be too noisy to write a paper in your suite. Extra disks are a good idea, especially if you don't have your own computer. A printer is also helpful, but if you don't have your own, don't worry: every student now has an electronic Bursar account that allows him or her to print from cluster printers for a per-page fee.

• Music: Someone in your suite needs to bring a stereo or at least a good boom box. You will also want to bring an ample supply of blank tapes or a CD burner so you can collect new music from your friends and neighbors.

• More goodies: If you can escape your house with a TV, VCR, Nintendo 64, microwave, blender, vacuum cleaner, or espresso machine, do! Don't forget a cable cord for your TV.

Miscellaneous

• Toilet articles, cosmetics, etc.: Again, you can buy all of these things at local stores, but they are expensive. Get your parents to buy as much as you can before you arrive. Don't forget a soap dish, a bathrobe, a shower basket, and shower slippers—the walk to the bathroom can be slimy.

• Household items: You will continually borrow these items if you don't own them yourself. So, to remain on good terms with your neighbors, you and/or your suitemates should bring the following: alarm clock, extension cords, hammer, bottle opener, masking tape, mugs, hot pot, microwave, and phone (Yale provides voice mail, so an answering machine isn't necessary). Be warned, however, that the fire marshal prohibits the use of most electrical appliances students keep in their dorm rooms, so you'll have to hide them over vacation.

• School supplies: Make sure that you are well-prepared with pens, pencils, notebooks, markers, rubber bands, white-out, paper clips, and a stapler. These are available locally; the cheapest place near campus is Staples on Whalley Avenue.

• Money: You'll need plenty of it, especially for the expenses you'll incur at the beginning of the year. You can either bring cash or travelers' checks, or hit one of the ATMs around campus.

• Et cetera: There are some items which are nice but not necessary. Shelving or crates can be useful for storing books, food, and other odds and ends. A bicycle is helpful, particularly if you plan to take science classes, so you can shave some time off the trip up Science Hill. And, of course, bring a camera and film to immortalize those moments you never want to forget.

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