Westminster College - Argo Yearbook (New Wilmington, PA)

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' On The Hall Where You Live ' One of the most important aspects of campus living was how and where you did it. Live, that is. And despite the regulatory limitations offered by our higher eschelon, which tended to inhibit heterosexual vis- its, alcoholic imbibing and coming home after midnight without the front door key (if you happened to be female), students were free to exercise some options of their own. One of these, if one was lucky enough to pick a low number during room drawings in the spring, was choosing the dormitory which best appealed to his own expectations and preferences in living. Freshmen had less of a choice than anyone else in the matter, informed by letter of their college residences. Nevertheless, most made the necessary adjustments and found both advantages and disadvantages to their winter homes. For most of the men at Rus- sell, the ringside cafeteria was the biggest plus. Girls in Shaw conversely complained of the long walk to the cafeteria, par- ticularly when the snow hit. One young coed even suggest- ed converting the infirmary into a cafeteria and having nurses work as Saga cooks. Jeffers coeds, despite the long walk to everything on campus, enjoyed living on the hill. They especially liked the family-type atmosphere of their gingerbread house. Most upperclassmen were allotted the liberty of choosing not only a roommate but also a room and a dorm of their choice. The more institutional buildings — Galbreath and Ei- chenauer — vied for popular- ity with the gothicism of Browne and Ferguson and the rambling appearance of the Hillside mansion. Senior Sheri Strohm had a variety of praise for Galbreath Hall, where she resided for three years. There ' s lots of storage space here — that ' s the main reason I like it, she said. Ferguson is nice, but not as homey; it ' s just too big. I also like the buzzer system here. She laughed, Getting used to all those signals would drive me crazy. What was there to be said of Robert G. Ferguson dor- mitory aside from sighed remarks about the winding stair- case, the million dollar lobby, and a T.V. room equipped with a door? Oddly enough, it was bugs that got the most attention. I like it a lot, said sophomore Kim Harter, except for the spiders. One wing of the dorm was even reported to have enlist- ed a spider patrol for the express purpose of aiding dis- tressed neighbors who fell apart at the sight of creepy- crawlies. RA Jennifer Phillips was heralded as the chief bug killer of the second floor, a specialist in centipedes. And Junior Kathy Gyulai often repeated the story of the Joining Melissa Magula in her room on the AG suite, Ginger Jacobs helps to make plans for spring rush. - Miller night a spider joined her between the sheets. Browne residents faced even greater challenges. A few were bothered by the unusually numbered floors, particu- larly Junior Debbi Matthews. They try and fool you by telling you you ' re on the third floor, but by the time you get there, you ' ve walked up four flights of stairs. It ' s confusing! A groun ' Browne resident revelled in the challenge of running unclothed from her room to the bathroom across the hall while the lobby door was open — before being seen by any leering males waiting for lunch. It ' s a real trip, I ' ll tell you, she chuckled. And in the house on the hill, the high ceilings and wide hallways always made it roomy enough for a rousing game of hockey or touch football. One RA referred to Hillside as an informal dormitory. It ' s not as disciplined as Russell, he said, or as lonely as Eich. Women were also offered the option of living in an actual house — Thompson, Sewall, McKelvey. or Minteer. Said Senior Peggy Peterson of her stay in Thompson: Living here has been pretty nice. You feel a little more independent than you do living in the dorms, because it ' s less struc- tured here. But people don ' t come to visit you as often. Men, similarly, if they didn ' t live in the dorms, could always make their homes at the frat houses. Mark Cooper, a junior Theta Chi, loved the exper- ience: It ' s like freshman year again. Everybody does ever- ything together again; it ' s nothing like it was in Eich. It ' s nice not to be on campus. It ' s also nice cooking for yourself. Even having to walk the dis- tance to class isn ' t that much of a problem; it ' s worth it for all the advantages. For those who vetoed campus-related living quarters of any type, New Wilmington offered a variety of alterna- tives. SA President Joni Mangino and Holcad Editor Sara Karr shared an apartment uptown beyond the Tavern. Their busy on-campus schedules didn ' t prevent them from opting out on the freedom apartment life had to offer. And, as usual, the Ozone, located on South Market Street, housed its share of local athletes and friends. Students lived where they did and enjoyed it, for the most part. And as the saying goes, at least here, there ' s no place like a home away from home. - Laura Burke 27

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Mark Arbuckle and Mark Gill join students all over campus in Senior desksitter Amy Smith explains the proper sign-in procedure turning over their checker boards in lieu of the hottest game around to a couple intent on intervisitation in Ferguson. - J. Miller — backgammon. - Miller

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Getting The Hang Of It Suzanne Murray waits in line for the first time to preregister for a Psych class. - J. Jetetic Adjusting to a totally new ex- perience was the plight of the college freshman. From orientation through finals week, the freshmen had varying feelings and reflections on their first term of life as a college student. Beginning with orientation, Jill Con- roy found the opening convocation to be a nice welcome. The President and the Dean didn ' t talk very long, so it wasn ' t too long and boring. Dari Dat- tilo felt that they were kept super busy during orientation and the first few weeks of school, and she liked that because it kept my mind off of home. Several of the freshmen agreed that the Gong Show was definitely one of the best parts of the first week. In general, most freshmen liked life in the dormitories. Russell Hall, ac- cording to Bob Wagner, is definitely not like home, but it ' s not that bad. Debbie Wheat felt that their hall was one big happy family, and her room- mate. Sue Wilson, who had a cast from knee surgery, agreed. It ' s nice when you ' re not able to get around too well and everyone looks after you. It ' s a challenge learning to get along with guys with such totally different person- alities, reflected Matt Hottel. Saga food didn ' t receive the high ratings of dorm life. The usual report was it ' s alright, but nothing like home. Sue found the American la- sagna to be gross, and just about ev- eryone agreed that Saga must think stu- dents have a craving for onions, chop- ping those white vegetables into ever- ything imaginable, and some things no one had ever thought of before. When they needed a break from Saga and school, most freshmen headed up- town. Their impressions of life in New Wilmington, however, were mixed. Homey and quaint was how Maureen Chiafullo found New Wilmington. I love to walk uptown. The five-and-ten stores remind me of old days. Weekends and one ' s social life were of great concern to freshmen as well as to everyone else. Frat parties seemed the place to be because, as one fresh- man put it, you can meet millions of people at a frat party. Most freshmen liked the movies on campus and felt there were plenty of things to do, but they agreed that at the beginning of the year there seemed to be more to do. When asked whether college was like they thought it would be, the majority of the freshmen said better! Most felt that they were able to handle the aca- demics with a little extra effort, which they began to put forth after the shock of their first exam. Dari found that her first Econ 1 1 test was the worst thing that ever happened to me. There was a great deal of disappoint- ment in the lack of enthusiasm at sport- ing events. Georganne Suzow felt that high school football games were much more exciting, and Andi Weissert agreed, saying coming from a large school where football games were an important part of the school ' s activities, it was disappointing to come here and see the apathy of most students at the games. Altogether, the freshmen appeared to have adjusted well, and to have made themselves at home in their first term Of college. - Keyte Caldwell Amy Wagner