University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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GOim up? Elevators were a blessing for those residents of the units, es- pecially those living on the 3rd floor and up. A halloween hoe- down is iminent for these Foothill residents as they prepare by getting dressed up and into char- acter. Hun III provides d perfect backdrop to take a quick study break be- fore heading to class. : apiST i i [lY MWfffi ' trf. -. Dorm Life ♦ 25

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lOdCiy 4 (6CfU re will boon the comparison between dorm and home life. Now as we know, dorm and home life are very different. However, most pwople do not stop to consider the specifics of such differences, nor do they see the many similarities between the two. We will examine these similarities and differences, primarily in the areas of food, maintenance, bathroom facilities and study and sleeping conditions. ♦ A. Food. Most students learn quickly the meaning of the phrase good old fashioned home cooking when they move into the dorms. Although repeated exposure to dorm food does not necessarily cause a student to involuntarily stop in front of diners called Mom ' s, the student usually finds the urge todiscover alternative sources of sustenance after a few meals in the DC. Home- cooked food, while not always the most appetizing, is at least familiar to the tongue, and made with the student in mind. However, with home-cooked food, opportuni- ties to seek out alternative food forms are much more limited than in the dorms. Indeed, some dorm residents have made Pizza, pepperoni, extra cheese their personal mantra [6660716 in and have gone out regularlv to cafes and other eateries such as Blondie ' s, La Val ' s and the Bear ' s Lair. • B. Maintenance. Needless to say, dorm residents do not even have a parent around to rehise to pick up after them. On the other hand, dorm residents are not particularly compelled to clean their rooms. This results in a pattern which involves infrequent trips to the laundry and the occasional borrowing of a vacuum cleaner from an RA. Dorm residents, though, are exempt from certain forms of maintenance; they don ' t have to wash dishes, clean toilets, fix water heaters, or mow the lawn. Thus dorm residents, finding maintenance responsibilities either nonexistent or uncoerced usually allow a luxuriant growth ot dirty laundry, old homework papers, pizza boxes, and other miscellaneous personal effects to cover thf room ♦ C. Bathroom facilities. A vital difference between the home and dorm bathroom environments is that there are no locks on bathroom doors. Hence a thin shower curtain is often all that stands between the bather and the world. Long lines, particularly prevalent in dorms with manv inhabitants, are quite common, leading to the formation of friendships among jjeople in bathrobes bearing soap. In a slightly related vein, the appearance of hot water in showers is not a given, but rather an occurrence whose probability oscillates between 50 and 99 ' , . ♦ D. Studying and sleeping conditions. Normally a dorm room houses anywhere from two to tour individuals, as opposed to the home room which usually houses only one. Thus the behavioral patterns of one roommate cannot but affect those of another. Studying is often disrupted by virtue of one roommate having a midterm next Monday and the other having no work and several friends. The same may be said for sleeping. In the first case, retreat to the local library is the only solution. In the former, nothing less than a gentle Could you please keep it down? will do. When all else fails, the ASUC sells earplugs, by LeOU LiU Student Life ♦ 24

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W l Pn dCVrtl OOd ' ts vmi down .md the costs ol living in .in apdrtmeiit st irt to spiral upwards unaintrollabl v, the solution is obvious: move into a co-op. The University Students ' Cooperative Association (USCA) is made up of fifteen houses and three apartment complexes in the campus vicinity and houses over 1200 university students. Started in February 1993, the student housing cooperative at Cal is based on the Rochdale Principles. The Principles call for voluntary membership, democratic social affairs, shared capital, equal distribution and provisions for the odiication of members. ♦ Members are only required tt) pay around $1700 per semester for room, hoard and meals. The USCA is able to keep costs so low by requiring workshifts from all co-op members. In most houses, five hours of workshifts pe r week are required, ranging from meal preparation to gardening to cleaning bathrt)oms. Several levels of management are in effect in each house: the house manager, kitchen manager, workshift manager, finance manager cooperative and main- t e n a n c e managers all keep opera- tions run- ning smoothl)-. In addition, the Central Office, located at Casa Zimbabwe, acts as an administrative bodv for the entire co-op system. ♦ Some of the larger houses, like Cloyne, Chateau, and Casa Zimbabwe are notorious for their intcrestingf!) parties and virtual lack of clean spaces. The frequency of social events and the actual amount of time devoted to maintaining the cleanliness of each co-op are all decided by the members of the particular house. Some, like the all-female Hoyt Hall and the tinv Euclid Hall, are much quieter and cleaner, but don ' t necessarily guarantee members an active social life. Specialty houses, like the all-vegetarian Lothlorien, and apartment complexes, like Rochdale Village, offer students an alternative to the tra- tional cohahitatlon o p struc- ture. ♦ Speaking of his co-op experience, Ridge House resident trie Hall com- mented, It ' s a cheaper wav to live within a student communitv. Although we have all the social benefits of living in a dorm, we also have larger rooms and fewer rules. By offering students a more liberal atmosphere in which to live than is provided by dorms and other campus housing, the USCA is guaranteed a steady How of students into the system. A point system allows residents who have lived in a particular house for a period priority during room selection at the beginning of the fall semester. The close-knit atmosphere lets students get to know one another in a unique wav. Since our co-op is our home, said Hall, we all have to share in the household responsibilities which gives us the opportunity to learn a lot about one another. I ' ve met a lot of my good friends in co-ops. Lj. MciriCl Ch H VP7 Studeitt Life ♦ 26