Since 2002, the School of Law's two biggest dormitories have been collecting and donating items twice a year.
Even aged as young as seven, we slept in large dormitories, governed by prefects, big boys who had reached the great age of 16, with all the maturity to be expected from a 16-year-old boy.
When the other boarding students woke up in the big gray dormitory, he had disappeared.
"Though hostels have always had the big shared dormitory-style rooms, we are now seeing more demand among travelers for double or single en suite rooms," Mr. Krüger said, adding that hostels had grown even more popular in the midst of the recession.
At a time when 26 per cent of Spaniards are unemployed, on paper it could hardly be better news: the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and Madrid's government selected the large dormitory town of Alcorcón for what is set to become Europe's biggest casino resort.
Now another company, Cogenra, is supplying a hybrid solar electricity and hot-water system for big apartment buildings, dormitories, retirement homes, wineries, food processing plants and, most recently, a dairy, all of which use large amounts of hot water.
They have been slow, as well, to build new dormitories at big campuses where out-of-town women are required to live, sometimes by their families and sometimes by the university itself.
Mr. Prendergast said the big window in the dormitory would one day offer a more heartening prospect.
Some have more than a dozen staff, Wi-Fi, double rooms as well as dormitories and are big enough to sleep up to 300.
When I was there a few years ago the dormitories were quite big and a bit shabby but the staff were very good at making the guests feel welcome and getting them to mix.
