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

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The Off-Campus Dweller Student Subculture Lives with “Second Family” AAKD PI an houp f Min AM Cl cm M ' k t m Y ,v V ' ■ L§ ■{ WJr ‘ M l f Jr • • M V ' AJl vjf ySj vr m f Jin M. pnm i i Iff] faj Why live off campus? The un- availability of dorm space is a primary reason. Those students, too far away to commute, who originally intended to live in the dorms but found no space, are forced into finding other accomodations. A second reason is to avoid the noise in the dorms, to seek privacy or to minimize overall expenses. Local off-campus rent usually ranges from $20 to $40 a week with the cost depending on whether or not the room includes cooking privileges, parking space, private baths or laundry facilities. Student Aid Considering the pros and cons of living off campus, most students agree that the basic conveniences and inconveniences offset each other. Rick DeLuca, a junior who shares a house in Short Hills with For most students who live off-campus, school is just a block or two au;ay. t T 24

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' To over 80 percent of the student body , survival of the fittest is a game played in a parking lot”

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three other students cites the main advantage, “ You’re more likely to receive some form of student aid when you’re independent. You also have much more privacy than if you lived on campus.” But Rich sees disadvantages. “You have to provide your own transportation and you have to work to pay the rent which may conflict with your school schedule,” he says. Junior Jeanne Hanneman, who shares a house with three other girls in Irvington, feels that “as a junior you are more serious-minded than as a freshman. If you want to go to your own room and study, nobody will bother you.” Even though Jean believes that off-campus housing is cheaper, she adds, “In the dorm you pay one lump sum which includes everything whereas living on your own, you must pay for food and utility bills monthly.” The Landlord Another popular grievance is the landlord. Rules and regulations that range from no visitors to actual cur- fews are often in effect to avoid possible disturbance to the family. Junior Pat Parkyn rents an upstairs room in the back of a house, owned by a family with three children in South Orange. She notes a lack of not being able to control what is go- ing on in the rest of the house since “I’m only a boarder. In the dorms, you can tell someone your own age to refrain from what they’re doing.” Altogether, Pat thinks living off campus has been a “good ex- perience because the family has become like a second family to her.” A minority of off-campus dwellers possess cars and walk distances of a block to a mile and a half each day. Hiking through the backstreets of South Orange, Vailsburg or Maplewood after dark, not an ap- petizing prospect after a night class, has led to the proposal of a Seton Hall-operated shuttle bus. Meal Ticket To compensate for the lack of cooking privileges, many off campus dwellers purchase a Boland Hall meal ticket. Further advice can be sought from Liz Smith, housing director, or the bulletin boards in the Women’s Residence Hall, filled with listing of rooms and apartments available in the immediate area. A planned Apartment Housing Program Seminar is another helpful service for the student considering an off-campus move. ■ For off-campus students, with the good comes the bad. Good things like your own living room (above) or favorite pet (top right) are offset by the tiresome respon- sibilities of cleaning your windows or washing your dishes. 25