description:
Jan. 18,1967 THE SKYSCRAPER Page Three Off Campus Rebels Apartment Life Elicits Responsibility by Jean Durall Following the breakthrough in campus housing policy last May al lowing seniors to live off campus, a small but hardy group of pioneers undertook the experiment As one of that group, now that all the trauma of apartment hunt ing, cleaning and moving is over, I can say that the essential qualities for getting along in the world of senile landladies, invisible maintenance men and faulty elevators are good humor and adaptability. From ex perience, it also helps to speak insistently and carry a big stick when dealing with apartment management. It works wonders: paints walls, cleans rugs, fixes plumbing. Why would anyone leave the antiseptic security of Coffey Hall to face the harsh world of local real estate? What are the advantages? Skyscraper Photo by Nancy Vandenberg FURNITURE HUNTING can be a problem. Rose Ann Majcher 66 and Francine Lamoreux explain to Jean Durall how they searched attics and Goodwill stores to locate their furnishings. Just think, even end tables, is the way Francine expresses her satisfaction with the results. In the background, Anna Maria Loredo uses the most essential implement for successful off-campus life: the telephone. At times during the first week, sitting on a floor obliterated by half-unpacked suitcases and boxes of clothes, books, kitchen utensils, shelf paper and soap, soap, soap and crying with my roommate, Dear God, please make it all go away, I asked myself that ques tion. I also asked the other sen iors who are living in apartments in the area. For Marilyn Gibbs, apartment living means being able to put tape on the walls and not having to wait three hours for a phone call. Nancy Vandenberg likes being able to smoke whenever she wants to and not having to get dressed to eat things which she couldn't do in Coffey Hall. More generally, all of the off- campus rebels enjoy the freedom of the experience. As Anna Maria Loredo expresses it, If you want to put your feet up on the ceiling, you do. If you don't want to make your bed, you don't. You don't have to eat at 5 or at 6 but when you want to and what you want or can afford. Mary Federle enjoys the privacy. You really have a home. Or, as Skyscraper Photo by Nancy Vandenberg DOWN COMES the bed in a daily ordeal which keeps Rose Pan ther fit if not well-rested. During the day the bed goes up and turns inward so it is out of sight Marilyn phrases it, In an apart ment there is room for living and not just studying. Ovita Cihlar considers her apart ment a complete break from school. She supports the overall feeling that you get more done, it's quieter. Most of the girls living off cam pus were resident students for their other years at Mundelein. How ever, some of them lived either with relatives or other families so that living with girls their own age is a new experience. Last year Anna Maria lived with an older woman whom she de scribes as more like a protector than a roommate and she is par ticularly enthusiastic about living with two other girls of approxi mately the same age and interest. Financial considerations also en ter into the picture as Mary Anne Gabil figures that apartment living will cost half as much as seven-day residency. She is living in an un furnished apartment which is cheaper than a furnished place, al though finding sufficient furniture can be a problem. But, as she ex plains, There are all kinds of peo ple with old furniture who don't want it. Living in a furnished apartment Nancy estimates that she still saves 25 a month over dormitory expenses. Another definite advantage in volves social activities, m Ovita af firms the convenience and infor mality of being able to invite a identity you don't find in the dorm. Marilyn summarizes the main points in her choice to move off campus this way. I'd lived in an apartment sum mers and I thought the freedom from routine would be welcome. I enjoy cooking my own food and not eating at 4:40. And, of course, hours. Of course, there are some disad vantages. Most, however, have to do with the physical surroundings. Skytcraper Photo by Nancy Vandenberg ISOMETRIC kitchens combine high cupboards with low appliances to guarantee a minimum of ef ficiency. However, Jean Durall and Diane Clow are experts at the high reach and the refrigerator squat which their kitchen necessitates. Skyscraper Photo by Jean Durall COOPERATION is what it takes when Nancy Vandenberg and Ovita Cihlar fix Sunday breakfast for a group of friends. The girls normally share kitchen responsibilities with one cooking and the other cleaning up after meals. Ovita feels that housekeeping provides a break from school. Skyscraper Photo by Nancy Vandenberg Really, ifs not always like this. date or group of friends in for coffee. Almost all of the experimenters had some prior experience with apartment life, primarily during the summers, so they were pre pared for the change from dor mitory life. Marge Reschke and Kathy Kop- pleman, who both moved into an apartment at the end of the fall term, base their reasons on past experience. As Marge says, I've had an apartment for two summers and I was too used to the independence and the privacy. It's no detriment to the dorm because I actually loved being in the dorm. Kathy affirms the point saying, I've been in an apartment before and I like it It gives you a sense of self- For instance, my roommate, Diane Clow, and I have a chronic plumb ing problem, the living room radi ator drips and quite recently the kitchen door fell off. Four of the girls have a front- row-center view of the L with all its accompanying sound effects. Some also are favored with in-a- door beds which are the bane of Nancy and Ovita's nights. Nancy describes sleeping on their mattress like the grand canyon and you roll together like two marbles in a bowl. Marilyn and Rose Panther have electricity problems. Every time we plug in the iron, all the lights go out, they lament. However, they are recompensed with a clear view of Mundelein from their kitchen window. .. Skyscraper Photo by Nancy Vandenberg Security for paranoid parents. Food, Fun, Freedom All apartments seem to be deco rated exclusively with white walls and beige accents in drapes and rugs but Nancy describes their walls as some thing special. I said when we moved in that it's more of an odor than a color. Other prob lems arise when one roommate has a guest while the other i s trying t o study or carry on some other activity. As Francine Lamoreux says, If you have a separate group of friends it makes things difficult but things work out just as long as you have an understanding. Mary Anne and Mary don't really think there are any disadvantages. However, as they tell it, they have a cat named Shiva on which they take out all their frustrations. For Marge and Kathy, their main problem so far is the dripping shower. Marge also cites paranoid par ents as a hazard. Ovita is fa miliar with this difficulty and she warns, Make sure the place is painted and cleaned before you move in or your parents will say, 'You must be kidding.' There are other experiences which are characteristic of girls and housekeeping. Mary Anne Gabil explains why their kitchen cupboards are covered by Contac paper by saying, We saw A Thousand Clowns and painted our kitchen cabinets orange but then we decided, no, that's just not us. Marilyn recounts how she cooked a whole box of spaghetti, enough for 12, for just Rose and herself. We ate it for three or four days and it finally turned green so we threw it out. Ovita has yet another anecdote. She observes that if you're mad at a professor you can whip up a cake and take out your animosity that way. I made a lot of cakes last term. Skyscraper Photo by Marilyn Gibbs THE COLLEGIAN 1967: Stu dent symbols join with a sign and a song. Nancy summarizes the value of the domestic experience with char acteristic humor. The fellow who gets us will be lucky. We'll make a lovely com posite wife.
title:
1967-01-18 (3)
publisher:
Women and Leadership Archives http://www.luc.edu/wla
creator:
Mundelein College
description:
Student newspaper for Mundelein College
subject:
Newspapers
subject:
Religious communities--Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
subject:
Students
subject:
Universities and colleges
subject:
Women's education
relation:
Mundelein College Records
type:
Text
language:
English
rights:
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coverage:
Chicago, Illinois
coverage:
Mundelein College