Students, don't be alarmed-the university take over of the apartment complex on 17th and Wisconsin is not as terrible as it seems. The plan is to create a suite-style residence hall for around 215 sophomores in the building that currently houses Sweeney's College Books and Ziggie's.

This plan has apparently been in the making for a while now, according to Mary Pat Pfeil, senior director of university communication. Tenants of the apartments upstairs were notified last winter that they should find somewhere else to call home by Feb. 1, 2008. The dorms are supposed to be ready for residents within the next two years.

While the future of other businesses on the block may be in jeopardy, Ziggie's will be sticking around. This campus eatery has stood on Wisconsin Avenue for 18 years. The restaurant is decorated with Marquette memorabilia and is truly a part of campus.

There can be no replacing Ziggie's pineapple-apple-orange smoothie goodness or mouth watering paninis. When greeted with agape expressions after telling people that he often works from open to close, he told patrons, "Some people say I'm a workaholic, but I just love what I do."

The loss of the businesses that occupy this building would be a blow to students, so one can understand our concern over Marquette's acquisition of the building. When asked about the fate of these businesses for the article that ran last week, Jim McMahon, dean of the Office of Residence Life said that said the businesses' leases with the current owner of the apartments would be honored until they expire and that Marquette's interest is in the apartments, not the businesses. He did not comment on when the leases expire.

The prospects seemed grim until sitting down with Ziggie this weekend. The situation no longer appears to be as grave as originally thought.

"Ziggie's will be around 'til 2015, and you can quote me," he said. "This dorm will be 'Ziggie's Residence Hall."

Ziggie says that he was the only one of the businesses on the block to sign a 10-year lease, so the university can't touch him until that time. Other businesses might have to go one by one as their leases expire, including Sweeney's.

So students, don't stress—–although Sweeney's may disappear or have to move, Ziggie's delicious eats will be around for many years to come. What initially seemed like a tragedy looks like it will at least partially work itself out.