The next big thing in laundry?

Finding an open machine during peak laundry room hours often borders on impossible.

But officials at Columbia think that they may have found a solution. With a high-tech laundry notification system to be installed in March, students will be able to check for available machines on their dorm computer networks. The "LaundryView" system will also display how much time is left on occupied machines.

Students will be able to check usage reports and receive e-mails when a machine becomes available or when their cycle finishes.

All at a cost to the University of $10,000.

College freshman Andrea Duguet -- who sets an alarm to remind herself to pick up her laundry -- said she thought that students would probably appreciate the LaundryView system but that it wasn't worth the price.

"They could probably do more with 10 grand," she said, adding that she believes that washing laundry should be free on campus.

Penn Director of Housing Doug Berger said in an e-mail interview that although certain features of the LaundryView system at Columbia are very useful, "the financial and technology requirements are substantial." He also said that the system won't necessarily prevent laundry-room drama.

"The e-mail notification ... system is a great convenience," he said. But "if another person is right there in the laundry room with their basket ... the e-mail ... won't necessarily stop them from taking out the other resident's things."

The system, if combined with that of Princeton, could signal the end of laundry frustration.

Students at Princeton do not have to pay anything when they do their laundry.

Princeton sophomore Ramsey Stephan said that he appreciates having free machines.

"Things run more efficiently. You don't have to worry about getting spare change," he said.

Although he said that there is no direct fighting over machines, he tries to get to the laundry room as soon as his clothes are finished.

This way, other students "don't end up throwing my clothes on the floor or taking whatever they want," Stephan said.

To the dismay of Duguet, Penn has not pursued a system similar to Princeton's.

"It's wonderful that they've eliminated one of the challenges of doing laundry by eliminating the need for cash," Berger said, "but it would require financial resources that aren't available to us at this time."

Berger said Penn is using some available financial resources to increase the number of machines that accept PennCash -- a debit account linked to student Identification cards.

Right now, every laundry room has at least one washer and one dryer that accept PennCash, and across campus there are a total of 78 washers and dryers equipped with the system.

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