Seton Hall University - Galleon Yearbook (South Orange, NJ)

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Community Advisors 29

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The Community Advisor: Counselor, Confidant Companion Service activities of community advisors reach out to the entire University. (Above) Community advisor Roland Werner plays Smokey the Bear and takes matches away from students in the Boland Hall cafeteria. (Right) Craig Grant follows the action during a softball game between the CAs and the ABC-Eyewitness News team. Proceeds of the game were given to the Pat O’Connor memorial fund. (Inset) Planning fire prevention week activities are Elmira Boone, community advisor; Nancy Low, administrative assistant; Tom Ludington, community advisor; Captain Mercedante, South Orange Fire Department; Guy Taylor; and Vincent Burns, assistant dean. By Beth Heutele Who stops the Boland Hall resident from dancing nude to the “beat” of a fire alarm in the middle of the night? Who brings the woman who just fainted in the hallway to the infirmary? The job goes to the community advisor — the dorm supervisor, information service, helper, counselor, confidant and sometimes substitute mother. The CA ' s responsibilities range from turning down blasting stereos to encouraging homesick freshmen to “hang in there.” Basically, a CA has to make sure that the dorms are still standing — more or less in one piece — when checkout time rolls around in May. Officially, the CA is the student representative of the University in the residence halls. He attempts to fulfill the students’ social, academic and emotional needs. Technically, this is considered a part-time job which entails administrative duties, counseling and programming. All CAs emphasize that theirs is a 24-hour-a-day job with more to it than just letting a locked-out student into his room. Aside from the paperwork and administrative meetings, a CA is someone who’s there when he’s needed. In the case of fire alarms, bomb scares, sickness, parties, floods or blackouts, he is responsible for making the decisions that ensure the students’ safety. He is also saddled with the precarious but vital duty of keeping the lines of communication open between the students and administration. Understandably, the University looks for maturity and responsibility in the CA candidates. The selection begins in the spring, just before the room lottery. There is a three-step process of interviews with students, current CAs, administrative assistants and the Assistant Dean of Students. Questions range from the inevitable Why do you want to be a CA?” to the individual’s views on drugs, racism and homosexuality. Training begins four or five days before school opens in September. The staff is assembled for discussions and workshops dealing with roles, responsibilities, expectations, dorm maintenance, emergency procedures, assertiveness and problem solving. Rooms are prepared, the dorm doors open and the CA goes into action. The CA staff agrees that the job is unpredictable and challenging. What do you say to the plumber with whom you’ve been sitting for two hours in a flooded hall waiting for his partner to return — with what turns out to be the wrong part? Or how do you react when someone knocks on your door dramatically announcing “something this big just walked in my window” when you yourself are scared of anything with more than two legs? It’s a lesson in dealing with people that has its rewards and frustrations, an experience that can go from smooth to topsy-turvy with just a knock on the door. But because CAs enjoy people and feel that they have something to offer the residence halls, the job is a growing experience. One CA summed it up saying, “The purpose of a CA is to keep a balance within the school’s system. You have to understand the needs of the school and the needs of the students. We have to help establish and regulate those needs.”

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Off-Campus Life: The Very Best Of All Possible Worlds You’ve Got Your Independence. But You’re Also No More Than A Few Minutes Away From School, Friends, And The Local Meeting Places — Shenanigans, Cryans, Kless, Famous And Paul’s Tavern. By Pat Considine “You ' re from where? No, I’m sorry, we won’t be able to accommodate you this fall. Students who live outside the 25- mile radius must be given priority. You understand. How many people ahead of you? You’re number 214 on the non-priority list. You don’t have a car? We-ll ... the only thing I can suggest is to try off- campus housing.’’ Many students began their off- campus residencies in much the same way. It was the only solution for those who lived too close to the University, according to specifications agreed upon by dormitory administrators, but who could not commute for various reasons. Mark Nartowicz was offered a room six weeks after he, Andy Petruzzi, and Tim Timko had moved into a three-room Waverly Place apartment. He turned it down saying, “I had the atmosphere of homelife with a family living upstairs but I also had my independence.” Mark stayed on for practical reasons, explaining, “The apartment is totally furnished for only $18 per week each — that ' s less than what the dorm charges. I had nothing to gain by moving.” Senior Jean McLaughlin shares Mark’s contentment with off- campus life, but she readily admits that having a family in the same house can be aggravating at times. When our first phone bill came with six calls to Santa Claus that their grandchildren made and when I think of all the Saturday mornings that their son blasted the stereo ... I have to wonder,” she declared. “But if I had to do it over again I would make the same choice.” Some students chose off-campus housing so they could combine the dual benefits of living with a group of friends and having their own rooms. Ginger Anzelone, Jackie Skidmore and Laura Gesualdi were so comfortably settled in their 44 Reynolds Place apartment that each turned down the chance to move to the Woman’s Residence Hall. “My own room affords more privacy and freedom than I could have in the dorm,” according to Ginger. “It is mine to do with as I please, to keep clean or messy depending on my mood, without worrying about a roommate.” Being able to have guests without the hassle of passes required in the dorm, and the freedom to party in any fashion she chooses, are added benefits of off-campus life, Ginger said. I doubt I could have had a better four years living anywhere else,” she maintains When Maryellen Brauer, a former occupant of the residence hall, joined the Reynolds Place crew, she found off-campus housing more conducive to studying. “We can study at all hours without the noise and distractions found at the dorms, and without disturbing each other,” she said. The idea of ieaving an off- campus roommate alone deters some students from accepting a dorm offer. Rich Massarelli admitted that the convenience of living upstairs of the cafeteria appealed to him, but not enough to leave roommate Ted Smarz behind. Ted also declined the dorm room. The two Bayonne residents attended Marist High School together and neither wanted to take the chance of living with an incompatible 30 Off-Campus