Drawing upon her rich experience of life, Prudence (Prudie to her friends) responds to questions about manners, personal relations, politics, and other subjects. Please send your questions for publication to Prudence@slate.com. Queries should not exceed 200 words in length. Please indicate how you wish your letter to be signed, preferably including your location.

Dear Prudence,

I don't know how much you remember of your college days, but I would like some advice pertaining to the dreaded topic of roommates. My roommate, just in the last two weeks, has developed a habit of going out and coming in late. I'm a light sleeper, and I've been suffering from her nocturnal excursions. We had decided (before these last two weeks) to room together next year--until yesterday, when I found a note from the roommate saying maybe we should not proceed as planned due to our different sleeping habits. Since then she has either not been in the room or has come and gone so quickly as to leave no time for discussion of this matter. I might add that our housing papers are due in five days, and it's disturbing to me how irresponsibly she is handling the situation--which stemmed from her suggestion in the first place.

Please help. Thanks so much.

--Tired in New York

Dear Ti,

Prudie remembers this of her college days: There were curfews making it impossible for students to keep vampire hours. (A few stealth roommates evaded the rules, but even this was rare.)

Given the irresponsibility you describe, not to mention the sleep disturbance, prudence (the virtue, not yours truly) demands that you either rustle up another roomie--preferably a young woman who is planning to become a nun--or take your chances being assigned a stranger. It couldn't be much worse. Well, actually it could, in which case you are within your rights to pester the proper authorities for a change.

And good luck with finals. Prudie remembers them well.

--Prudie, restfully