If you choose to bring a computer, the easiest place to put them is in the study area. Your Ethernet jack is just inside the door to your room, so you will have to run the cable over the door or along the floor to the study area. Along with the ethernet jack, you also have a cable jack and one phone line per room. Yes, either you or your roommate should bring a phone. Starting in fall of 2000, answering machines will not be necessary seeing as we will have an answering machine service that you can dial into to get your messages.
Some people choose to bring cordless phones.
Many models of cordless phones will work anywhere in your hallway and some people are able to use them even if they go outside. There is a grand sense of community in this hall, as a lot of people have open door policies. For those of you that don't know what that is, it means you leave your front door open so that people walking by know they can stop in to introduce themselves. That is how I met a lot of the people living in the hall during my semesters here. No class is more than fifteen minutes away from this residence hall.