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Katie Larivey, a fourth-year geography student, owns over 700 DVDs. VHS has been replaced by the

“VHS rules,” proclaimed fourth-year religious studies student Walter Morales. “I’m so over DVDs. I’m bringing back VHS.”

Good luck. As enthusiastic as the old-school Morales is about leading a VHS return to glory, the cold hard truth is that the DVD has replaced VHS as the OWW (Only Way to Watch). Since the late 1990s, DVDs have gradually taken over college dorms and apartments, jockeying for positions on shelves and in storage bins, and most students wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Can you even buy VHS in most stores?” asked fourth-year history and business economics student Steve Araiza, who owns roughly 40 DVDs, from pride and joy “The Highlander” to questionable lowlight “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

In fact, the Best Buy store in Westwood has not received any shipments of VHS in almost two years.

It’s technological evolution cruising on by, and Araiza, whose latest purchase was “The West Wing: Season Two,” is one of many along for the ride.

“I’m kind of obsessed with new technology. I always have to have the new gadgets,” said fourth-year geography student Katie Larivey, whose DVD collection numbers in the hundreds and recently welcomed action thriller “Point Break” into the fold. “I never liked VHS; it’s just so big and I don’t like rewinding it to find a spot. DVD is so easy.”

According to Jonathan Kuntz, a visiting assistant professor in film, DVD is simply following in the footsteps of VHS as an ancillary market for Hollywood to make money off the same commodity.

“Hollywood makes movies and shows them in theaters, and then maybe shows them on TV. But in the 1970s, they figured out another way, which is to create videocassettes. This was so successful that by the 1990s, the prerecorded videocassette market was as big as the theatrical market for Hollywood,” said Kuntz. “And they quite naturally wanted to hang on to that. When DVDs came along in the late 1990s, it gradually shifted from videocassette to DVD, and they’ve done that quite skillfully.”

Skillfully, as in offering a four-disc package, replete with an extended version, theatrical trailers, hours of commentary and interviews, and other digital goodies, for each film in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Skillfully, as in creating alternate endings for the “Se7en” Platinum Edition DVD.

“In the last four years, (the industry) has introduced fancier and more attractive, more innovative ‘bonus’ features, but it’s also gotten more excessive,” said Morales.

But extra behind-the-scenes footage does not necessarily play a big role in students’ purchasing decisions.

Larivey, who, since her senior year in high school averages about two or three DVD purchases per month, finds reissues such as 10th anniversary editions and director’s cuts rather superfluous.

“Totally annoying. (The industry) tries to trick you into buying it again,” she said.

Like most technological advancements, DVDs and DVD players have gradually dropped in price during the last few years, making them the norm in homes and dorm rooms.

“(The industry) discovered that if they drop the price below $20, they can sell an unbelievable pile of DVDs. They make it so that people buy them without feeling like they’re spending a fortune,” said Kuntz. “After all, it costs $10 to see a movie today.”

DVD also trumps VHS in the all-important category of quality. Grainy videos and tracking are relics of the past. DVD offers high definition widescreen and surround sound, making this passing of the torch a virtual no-brainer.

“Even my parents buy DVDs now, so there must be something to it,” said Araiza.