Spring fever hit 328 E. Uintah Street early this year.

A few weeks ago on the first day of a new term at Colorado College, the four roommates at the two-story brown house spent the afternoon entertaining friends in their back yard.

They didn't issue formal invitations - people just knew Jason Cugnet, Berk Nelson, Dave Taylor and Justin Morrison would be hanging out and enjoying the day.

Like many college students, they're experiencing the joys and trials of sharing living quarters, often for the first time, with people of different styles, preferences and temperaments. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

The four Colorado College students have been living together since September. Though they all admit life in a group house means making compromises, all four say they clicked right away as roommates.

Colorado College students often refer to off-campus students by their addresses. Students say 328 - read that "three twenty-eight" - is mellow and fun. They say the roommates always get along - a rarity among upperclass male students, according to Cugnet, 23. "A lot of houses, there's nights when people want to fight each other. That never happens here."

"The four of us are different, but we just get along. It would just be too stupid to get in a fight with someone you live with."

Nelson, a senior sociology major, said the roommates get along well because they've all participated in team sports. That mentality teaches compromise and problem-solving, he said.

Nelson and Morrison play Colorado College hockey, which is how they met Cugnet, who played for two years. Taylor played baseball at Skidmore before transferring to Colorado College in 1997 and now participates in various club and intramural sports, including hockey.

"Playing team sports is how we've learned to shoulder responsibility and conflict," Nelson said. He added that every roommate has at least one sibling, which he said helps teach cooperation.

Paying bills, doing dishes, taking out the trash, cleaning up after a party - they all say everyone pitches in.

Taylor, 22, said things just eventually get done, with no set schedule or deadlines. Though he considers himself the most meticulous, he lets things slide.

"You have to decide between fighting with your roommates and letting the little things go," said Taylor.