Sporting a clip-on tie and the white-socks, black-pants combo that makes fashion-followers freak, Joel Urbanowicz is a true geek. And the 2003 graduate proudly bears his proof — a badge identifying him as a member of the "Geek Squad."

"I brought the badge home for Christmas to show everybody in my family, and they all got a big kick out of it," he said. "It's not in any way demeaning or degrading. The whole 'geek' term has never been one that I've considered negative.

"I've been a geek for most of my life."

Geek Squad agents, such as Urbanowicz, are making the geek-life a chic one. As a "double agent," Urbanowicz travels to homes and fixes computers, sets up wireless networks and handles other technological tasks.

"People are really receptive," he said. "They're always offering food — I always get asked if I'm thirsty."

However, the job isn't all milk and cookies — agents who work for these technologically focused stores found in Best Buys everywhere will occasionally make some unpleasant discoveries.

"I know we've had computers that have had a dead mouse in them," said Drew Beach, the deputy of counter intelligence at the Geek Squad precinct in the Okemos Best Buy, 2020 W. Grand River Ave. "We've had computers with dead insects, like a cockroach.

"You get all kinds of stuff in there."

Mike Greanya said he hasn't had the pleasure of finding any creatures in computers, but he knows it happens.

"I've heard cases of snakes and other small rodents in computers," said the telecommunication, information studies and media senior. "I have no idea how they get in there, but they do."

Although there isn't an exact protocol for dealing with these discoveries, Beach said agents will do what they can.

"I guess if the computer was salvageable, we try to scoop it out or something, but if it looks completely ruined, we seal it up and give it back," he said. "It's basically a case-by-case scenario."

A much more common finding for agents is a high amount of dust and dirt inside the systems.

"We've had computers, when you open them up, they're so dirty and disgusting — more dirt and dust than I've seen in some of the dorms," Beach said. "You open it up and you can't breathe."

Computers in smokers' homes are usually the worst when it comes to buildup, Greanya said.

"A smoker's computer looks worse than their lungs do," he said.

Sometimes the customers can be as problematic as the computers, such as when a customer was told a repair would cost as much as the computer itself, Beach said.

"Instead of paying, he took his computer outside, threw it in the air as high as he could and let it shatter," he said. "Then he came in and bought a new computer."

Of course, when you're an MSU student and it becomes common knowledge you're an agent, there will be consequences — friends and friends-of-friends coming to you for computer help.

"I've had to do my fair share of grunt work," Greanya said. "They usually paid me in beverages, though. It was nice."

Preveterinary sophomore Elizabeth Atwood said though she would usually call on people like Greanya for computer help, the service is a good idea but a little pricey.

"My friends are good with computers, but if I didn't have those resources, I would (call an agent)," she said. "It's easier than taking it to the store."

An in-home software repair will generally run about $229, which Atwood found to be too high.

"The price is way too much," she said. "It should depend on an hourly rate."

Though they will find the occasional nasty surprise inside a computer or deal with computer-flinging customers, being a Geek Squad agent does come with its perks — like the car.

Agents drive a black-and-white Volkswagen Beetle, complete with the Geek Squad logo emblazoned on the side.

"The car is always a big hit," Urbanowicz said. "For some reason, nobody believes we actually drive around in those Beetles on the commercials, so when I pull into a driveway, people are always in awe."

The car adds to the appeal of the computer house calls, premedical freshman Bridget Deming said.

"It's a really good service if I don't have to waste time walking to the Computer Center," she said. "Plus, it would be kind of fun to see them ride up in the bugs."

The cars complete the police-esque makeup of the Geek Squad. The stores are called precincts, the employees are agents — those who work at the front counter are "counter intelligence agents" — and each agent has a badge.

"The Geek Squad image is brilliant," Greanya said. "They're taking and sort of melding the old view with the new view. They've taken nerdy looking clothes that the older generations have actually seen and putting a newer, hipper twist on it, with the bugs and the cooler commercials."

Part of that image is embracing classic geekiness, Urbanowicz said.

"On forms it says, 'Although we don't accept tips, we always accept dating advice,'" he said.

Brian Pillar, a 2005 graduate, said he has a blast doing his job but isn't sure if it's safe to call the new geek image cool.

"The term geek now just refers to someone who has a good idea how a computer works and how to maintain a computer," he said. "People are starting to look more toward those geeks now because they help maintain the systems that are running the world now."

Greanya said he accepts and enjoys the geek moniker.

"Sometimes they'll ask us if we get offended, and we're just like, 'Well, we probably wore something like this back in the day, and it's actually a compliment to be called a geek nowadays,'" he said.