From MTV to NIU, Cribs is in the house … well, apartment. Throughout the semester, Sweeps will delve into the dopest domiciles that NIU students inhabit. This week, we visit the eclectic pad of four upperclassmen.

This typical Regent Drive apartment is more than meets the eye. Inside, the residents have done some serious remodeling, including building a full-size bar, installing a sound system and showing off their extensive bottle collection.

This is the first year that NIU students Mark Victoria, Ben Minter, Brian Chandler and Kate Frew have all lived together, but this is Minter’s fourth year in the apartment.

“The first year, my roommates and I built the bar and started collecting all of the [empty alcohol] bottles,” senior engineering major Minter said.

The bar is nestled between the front door and the kitchen. It has had quite a history.

“[The bar] started out as a [TV cabinet,] but we have added on to it a lot since then,” Minter said. “It used to have a fish tank in it, but none of us can take care of fish, so now it has the computer center.”

The computer inside the bar isn’t meant to be your run-of-the-mill desktop. Instead, it’s pumped full of MP3s and hooked up to speakers throughout the main living area.

“I would say it holds about 6,000 MP3s,” senior history major Victoria said. “All of them are legal, of course.”

Also adding to the music mix is Chandler’s vinyl collection, which he plays on a vintage record player.

“My uncle bought it in, like, 1976. It was my brother’s and now it is mine,” junior engineering major Chandler said.

Chandler made one other contribution to this pad’s party vibe. Mounted on the wall behind the couch is a stunning, huge picture of a taco salad. And why do they have a 4-foot-by-4-foot picture of a taco salad on their wall, you ask?

“That is a family heirloom,” Chandler said. “It was passed on from my brother to me and I plan on giving it to my younger brother. It is a Steak ‘n Shake salad; my brother got it from one of the restaurants when it was closing.”

Also adding to the decor is a Coca-Cola slushy message board (brought by Chandler from a former job), a “Slow: Children at Play” sign (legally obtained through Minter’s father) and of course, the aforementioned liquor bottles, which have taken over much of the shelving.

Minter said he lost count of the bottles long ago.

All of these improvements haven’t cost the four roommates much. The bar, although it started life as a TV cabinet, cost around $200 and their MP3 blender, although probably worth around $2,000, was free. Not to mention the priceless charm of a giant taco salad hanging on the wall.

Where: 901 Regent Drive, Apt. 312

Who: Senior history major Mark Victoria; senior engineering major Ben Minter; junior engineering major Brian Chandler and junior hospitality administrations major Kate Frew

Claim to fame: Builders of the TV stand awry and bottle collectors extraordinaire