Since the University owns both Dudley and Jordan, the room fees are term-billed while board expenses are internally managed by co-op officers.

Rooms cost $2100 and board costs $1000 per year in Dudley, amounting to almost half of the cost of room and board in the houses.

Jordan co-opers pay the same amount for their rooms as house residents but pay less than half as much in board fees.

"There is a financial bonus," Carter says. "Even if I didn't like the place, I would probable still live here [because it's cheaper]."

And as the advantages of co-op life grow, so does the competition for rooms, DeSombre says.

Interviews are used to handle the influx of prospective co-opers, she says, and are important both for the co-op and for students.

Students should know that "pets, vegetarian food, and shower sharing" are a part of everyday co-op life, she says. "It's been really full lately and we're constantly turning people away."

Residents say this screening process helps to maintain the "co-op atmosphere."

"People find out by people who live here. I'm glad we don't have the hockey team here--there would be different dynamics--you have to be into the community atmosphere," Carter says.

And students say their active participation in managing co-op affairs is evidence of this communal involvement.

The co-ops have a decision-making body which holds inclusive meetings every Sunday to discuss issue pertinent to the co-op.

These meetings, students say, are very informal and involve a high degree of participation.

"The meetings function as a non-bureaucratic system," Carter says.

"You talk until everybody's happy. People get pissed off if there's a vote before everyone has had their say," she says.

Since the co-op government is much less hierarchical than house governing system, co-opers say their meetings are more relaxed and open.

And because of their emphasis on individual and communal responsibility, the co-ops can train students for real life, says Cabranes-Grant.

"The co-ops are a place where people prepare for the transition after they get their degrees," Cabranes-Grant says.

"It's a great opportunity to see 'How am I going to deal with the life out there,'" he says.