College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

Page 27 text:

Being able to bring a desk of one ' s own and chairs and bookshelves creates a more personalized study atnaosphere. Jeff Lenser ' s drawing table makes it easi- er for him to spread books and paper out while studying unlike school provid- ed desks Having a car is a benefit of living off campus Rich Lipsky remembers Virgin- ia law states that all windows will be cleared of ice before driving. Sunbathing without others around is |usl part of the privacy obtained. Taking ad vantage of the sun, Jeanlne O ' Grody also catches up on reading.

Page 26 text:

Around the Campus, Life Out of Bounds Tinee God provides an easy access to necessities forgotten while shopping in Safeway. Tom Evans enjoys a Big Gulp while shopping for spaghetti. Believe it or not. this article was actually written in a location which happened to be extremely off-campus in nature, it probably was an acceptable vantage point from which to spew some type of an overview circumscribing the ectasies and evils of off-cam- pus living. With the beginning of each new academic year students were faced with a most momen- tus decision: whether or not to journey beyond the boundaries of reason and to take up resi- dence in surrounding Billsburg and the wilderness beyond. But where did one go? As close as Richmond or Jamestown Road or as far as Newport News or Richmond. Most people chose a place in between: Scotland Street, Spring Roads, Pepper- tree, Jamestown Apartments, Governor ' s Square The list went on and on. And on. Like everything else, off-cam- Hanging out in front of Sigma Nu Kevin Karney and Tracy Risachcr enjoy the life of living in sorority court. Although those living in the houses are subject to ORL rules they do not have to go through the rigors of lottery in the Spring. Bottom; Their own furniture, their own room, their own bath only people who live off campus can really enjoy the full effect of having such things. Carrie Omps and Jeff Lenser enjoy the free- dom of being able to share an apartment to reduce expenses. 22 Life off Campus pus living had its pros and cons. Cons began with the absence of a free toilet paper supply. Transportation was an expen- sive problem, but it presented one with a valid reason for tak- ing one of the family cars to school. Having a vehicle, wheth- er it was a battery-operated mo- tor scooter or a nuclear- powered eighteen-wheeler. opened a world of cultural op- portunity, shortening distances to Va Beach. Washington DC. and LA (of course). However, cars broke. Cars chose to break at the best times — 150 miles from Williamsburg the night be- fore the first final when only for- ty cents remained in the bank account. Groceries, cooking, rent, and utilities tended to- wards the Maximum Suckage Point in many instances. The independence of off-cam- pus living was the single most attraction which drew students from the tyranny of ORL. Off- campus students had a larger control over their environment, their activities, their TV sets, and their destinies. Isolation from restriction allowed chaos. These students partied as they so desired and further freed their habits of the academic pressures of the dorm. Other at- tractions included private bath- rooms, bathtubs, swimming pools, tennis courts, balconies and fireplaces. Whether in houses or in apartments, most day students agreed on one fact: off-campus living was fun. As student MP McSpew stated, It ' s twice the party for half the cost. — Mikeljon Nikolich ' 4 Pi I if '

Page 28 text:

Around the Campus Steak, Shrimp, Chicken ... At Home They were elusive creatures, but they could always be tracked down by the savory aromas seeping out of their rooms. Gathering in dorm kitchens, jug- gling three bags of groceries as they plodded up five flights of stairs, they could only be Stu- dents Without Meal Plans. Al- though their faces were rarely seen at the Marketplace or the Caf, they were hardly social or nutritional outcasts, in fact, most of these students were quite sat- isfied with their lifestyles, citing better food, lower costs, and mealtime flexibility as just a few of the benefits of life without a meal plan. I eat much higher-quality food, and i pay $300-$400 less per semester, said junior Kathe Grosser, a resident of Holmes House. Grosser, relying upon her own cooking for most of her meals, prepared everything from fish and chicken dishes to spaghetti and shrimp. If you save that much money, you can afford to indulge in shrimp once in a while, she said. Senior Jenny Pleier ' s reason for staying off the meal plan for six semesters was simply bad food. I was eating too many carbo- hydrates, she said. Like others who chose not to buy from the food service, Pleier enjoyed be- ing able to plan her own meals and mealtimes. It works out well if your roommate likes the same kind of food that you do, Pleier ' s roommate, senior Kendal-Leigh O ' Rourke, said. For the price of a meal plan, you can eat like a queen. When asked about the disad- vantages of not having a meal plan, O ' Rourke was quick to re- ply, There are not! Pleier ad- mitted that she sometimes dis- liked cleaning up and that not having a car made shopping in- convenient. It ' s kind of a pain when your bags break all over the bus, she said. For many students without meal plans, availability of trans- portation determined where and how often they shopped for food. Like most students, Senior Christy Osoling preferred to shop at Farm Fresh, where food was the least expensive, but her choice of grocery stores usually depended on where her drivers were going. I try to stock up whenever I do go shopping so that I can just run out to the shopping center on the bus if I need a few things, Osoling said. Although Farm Fresh was the overall favorite, Safeway and Pantry Pride were also popular places to shop. Some students preferred Safeway for its 24- hour service, its bulk foods sec- tion, and its wide produce selec- tion. Others were attracted to Pantry Pride ' s double-coupon offers. Whatever the case, most students without cars shopped at Monticello supermarkets sim- ply because they were located on the bus route. When daily cooking became humdrum, students turned to the delis and fast food places for a change of pace. Some, like senior Doug English, sought out relaxed, quiet, fun places like the Green Leafe and Beetho- ven ' s Inn. For the most part. however, students ate their meals at home, finding their dorm kitchen facilities to be more than adequate for their needs. Although they sometimes missed the social aspects of be- ing on the meal plan, most felt that the convenience of cooking for themselves was worth the sacrifice. English, a Lambert House resident, preferred to cook at home because, as he put it, you can pop something into the oven and stay in the house to study. It ' s more convenient to have food around, and 1 like to cook, senior Tom Inge said. His favor- ite meals ranged from Cornish hen and spaghetti to an occa- sional steak. A gourmet chef in his own right, Inge pointed out that you can really impress the ladies with a nice dinner. Cheaper. Healthier. Easier. Whatever their rea- sons for cooking on their own, students without meal plans agreed that life without the food service was not a bad life indeed. — Carolyn Bond The springtime brings warm weather and problem of eating at nome is the clean barbecues. Robin Warvari, Mary Beth up Sinks seem to have a way of getting Straight, Joyce Singleton, and Dave filled quickly and emptying slowly. Dorm Constanza eat a hearty meal of barbecue and apartment kitchens often made a chicken and corn on the cob. The only nice home for visiting cockroaches.