Newswise — THOSE CURTAINS SO DON'T MATCH MY DUVET COVER! -- Sharing a living space with a new face for your freshman y ear is hard work, considering the thorny dilemmas of what hours to keep, who cleans the dishes and--gasp!--what design theme to settle on. "I talked to one parent who told her daughter not to buy towels yet so she can arrange a color scheme with her roomm ate," says Rose Romett, assistant director of resident life at Temple. Romett concedes, however, that more volatile pitfalls than clashing decor tendencies can trigger a rocky start to roomie relationships. "Right now, students should be getting acquainte d with one another and talking about who's bringing what," Romett says. "They should coordinate bringing TVs, stereos and other common appliances. Sharing a telephone used to be an issue, but most students have cell phones now." Once students, who are pai red with roommates with like habits, have determined the basics of their room configuration, Romett says it's important to discuss ground rules for the relationship. "So much of it is about expectations. A lot of roommates come in thinking they'll be best friends, but sometimes it's better not to be. What's important is that students define respect and learn how to compromise." Even when it comes down to the perfect pattern for the throw rug. .
FUTURE OF SOLAR-POWERED CARS REMAINS CLOUDY -- While races like the American Solar Challenge continue to fascinate the public, solar-powered vehicles remain nothing more than a novelty which have a very long way to go before having any chance of becoming mainstream, says Temple engineering professor Richard S. Cohen. "They use free solar energy, but these vehicles are enormously difficult to mass produce because they use very expensive lightweight materials and high-efficiency solar cel ls," says Cohen, an expert in automotive engineering. "They are also impractical because they are small, fragile, and not very reliable." Cohen says their main value lies in research and testing, providing opportunities to develop more efficient solar ce lls and ways to make the vehicles more easily and cheaply. And while developments that would allow a practical solar-powered vehicle are still far in the future, Cohen says that progress is being made continuously. "One may soon find vehicles on the road that use solar power to assist in things such as battery charging and air conditioning," he adds. "How about a car that turned on the air conditioner 10 minutes before quitting time so it was cool when you got out of work, but only used free solar power to do it?" .
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