The letter "I" is so commanding. Lower its case, though, and it becomes a mere sliver, easy to overlook. And since it's all that separates Alaina Levine from Alana Levine, misunderstandings are bound to develop. The first inkling that their lives would become entangled occurred on freshman orientation day at the University of Arizona. Alaina had just moved to Tucson from New Jersey for school. Alana had moved from Chicago. Somehow, they picked the same orientation time and their packets were mixed up. When Alaina's name was called, Alana stood up at the same time Alaina did. They had picked seats within two rows of each other in one of those cavernous auditoriums on campus. "I had never met anyone with my name," said Alana. Alaina concurred. She'd sometimes come upon an Elena, but never an Alana. And the combination of the first name with the last name is uncanny. The two worked on campus during their student years, staying on after graduation and ending up with high-profile jobs at the university. Alaina, 29, handles public relations and special projects for the College of Science, so she's frequently quoted. Alana, 30, is the recycling program manager, and often quoted as well, because it often fell to her to organize high-profile events such as Earth Day. Oddly enough, Alaina was the recycling diva at her high school, even writing a letter thanking Peruvian officials for helping to stop deforestation. Soon, Alaina noticed something unusual on her university electronic calendar. Meetings were being scheduled with people she'd never met before. And their mail is forever getting sent to the other person. Once, Alaina went to give a speech at a campus function and thought it odd that the organizer hadn't introduced her. So she gave her speech without an introduction. The woman explained later that she saw the name and assumed it was Alana, whom she knows, and she was waiting for her to come in so she could introduce her. The women are both petite brunettes. They even each have a distinctive hobby. Alana, an avid hiker, plays the French horn. Alaina studies stand-up comics to hone her public speaking skills and is a killer pool player, even playing in campus tournaments. Their eye doctor can't even keep them straight. One day, Alaina put in her new contact lenses and was afraid she'd gone blind. She double-checked her prescription, and found out her vision had suddenly deteriorated multiple points on the optomestrist's scale. She right away knew who the culprit was. Their charts have since been flagged. Then, in July, came the most recent confusion. The Star ran a story about two couples who found love at Downtown's Cinema La Placita. One of those couples? Alana Levine and Paul Lee, who are engaged to be married. Soon, Alaina was getting all sorts of congratulatory comments from colleagues about her upcoming nuptials, which was news to her. The confusion isn't likely to end anytime soon. Alana's middle name is Lee, her future husband's surname, so she's just keeping her name the way it is. Both women said all of these coincidences seem to be pointing them toward meeting each other. They haven't. In part, because they're busy. But, as Alana put it, "There's that mystique out there, kind of like a playfulness, to share an identity like this." But Alana conceded she can no longer deny the cosmic pull between herself and Alaina. Her wedding is scheduled for Oct. 30. She didn't know that that's Alaina's birthday.