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Appliance Use High in Dorms, Houses

News Feature

One first-year rooming group in Canaday Hall decided over winter break that they would never call Pizza Ring again.

And since that time, aided by a host of electric appliances ranging from a bread maker to a salad shooter-to shred the cheese-they haven't.

"We don't order pizza any more...ever," one member says.

Despite a strongly-worded rule against dorm-room appliances in the Handbook for Students, undergraduates seem to be buying more and more specialized machines all the time.

"[T]he city of Cambridge's ordinances and regulations forbid cooking in any room or apartment not equipped with permanent cooking facilities," the handbook says. "Cooking equipment is prohibited in such places."

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But the Canaday pizza parlor, for instance, holds a "pizza porto" to process the dough made by the bread maker, an "electric bread-slicing system," refrigerator, microwave, toaster over, blender, coffee maker, espresso machine, coffee grinder and an instant water boiler.

"It's more than a hot pot, it's a Hot Shot....We think it's powered by nuclear fusion," says one proud user.

This particular room may be more well-equipped than most, as a result of a competition between dorm rooms.

"This is the dorm of extremity," residents say.

It all started after another room had a microwave and popcorn poper along with its Laser Disc player and TV/VCR, they say.

But despite the plethora of electronic plunder, few in the dorm have seen any reprisals.

In fact, the pizza makers say their proctor was pleased when they got a set of shelves to house their equipment.

"She was very happy when we got this hutch to put it all in, "they say, "She was also resistant to our opening up a bar and grill."

Rules? What Rules?

Dunster House superintendent Joseph O'Connor says the rule "basically limits [students] to a refrigerator."

Too many appliances can be a fire hazard, he says.

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