The Cavalier daily :: Tuesday, September 12, 1972 :: University of Virginia Library

The mediocre facilities will
be found perching on the
sloping side of Observatory Hill
along Alderman Road. An
adventure in group living, the
dorms are arranged, five double
bedrooms with band-aid
colored walls, sharing a
central living room. Only this
year a number of the bedrooms
are triples, with students taking
turns sleeping under the desk

Those living on Alderman
Road should be advised of
several problems. First and
foremost, don't mess with the
ceiling tiles. If you do, you can
count on the Housing Office
charging you approximately $3
for each damaged tile.

Second, when (not if) the
plumbing runs afoul, do not
call Security they're too busy
writing tickets Call Food
Service

While on the subject of
security and plumbing, it will
reassure you to know that
security around the dorms is
very good. Those voices you
hear from the shrubbery as you
and your date approach your
dorm are not from another
couple in search of solitude-they're
probably from the
walkie-talkie of a foot patrol.

Festivities

This year all Alderman
Road dorms will contain at
least one floor of women
students. For those of you
planning to attend the
"opening day festivities," just
look upstairs in any dorm. If
you are unsure of what the
"opening day festivities" are,
be on the lookout for several
hundred young men wandering
about the dorms with vacant
stares and half-empty
six-packs.

Another first in the
University's dormitory life is
the addition of women to the
McCormick Road houses.
These buildings are excellent
examples of the neolithic style
of architecture that gained
popularity in the early 1950's
as large amounts of war surplus
material became available

The best that can be said
for these dorms is that they are
functional, meaning maximum
occupancy and minimum
comfort They harbor an
adventure in frantic living, with
35 to 40 people sharing one
bathroom, one telephone, and
on occasion a multitude of
flying, crawling, and dead
insects

The McCormick Road
bathrooms are reminiscent of
those in the bus station in any
large city, the only things
missing are condom machines.
There are four showers and five
toilets available, but a wise
student checks before
committing himself

The good toilets vary from
day to day, thanks to toilet
paper and lid thieves There is
also no need to take reading
material to the toilet for the
first few days, since ample
literature has been provided on
the rear of the stall door

Hopefully you've taken a
shower by now. If so, you may
have discovered that the
showers vary in temperature
and force- usually one is
bearable

For entertainment in the
showers, stop up the drain in
the corner and watch the water
rise. Even more exciting is
pouring a bottle of
concentrated shampoo in the
water.

The more ambitious soul
could remove the door and
place it in the shower room
door crosswise. This last trick
is recommended for the
financially independent since
the rampaging water can cause
quite a mess, provoking more
bills from Housing.

Telephones will both
mystify and enrage you.
Charlottesville is one of few
towns where one can get either
a busy signal or no answer
when calling the operator. A
sensitive ear can also listen to
the radio while on the phone,
and the more sensitive ear may
detect the telephone on the
radio.

All is not lost, however. The
young ladies will find that
Housing has been diligently
preparing for their invasion of
this formerly all-male bastion
on McCormick Road. Shower
curtains have been installed,
along with venetian blinds;
what they did with the urinals
is anybody's guess.

Coeducational Twists

Also, one-way entrance
doors have been placed on the
third floors of Echols,
Humphreys, Kent, and Dabney,
where, of course, the women
will be living. What other new
twists coeducation will bring to
the rather drab existence of
McCormick Road remain to be
seen.

Besides students.
McCormick Road houses a
variety of odds and ends.
WUVA is in the basement of
Lefevre. WTJU is in
Humphreys, along with the
laundry service and the snack
room. The snack machines
work occasionally, but the
best course of action is to let
some other joker try it first

One of the hot spots of
McCormick Road living is the
graveyard, a place rich in
history and plant life. Some of
your most unforgettable
characters will be met in the
graveyard late at night.

Possibilities

To see what these places
could really look like, pay a
visit to the basement of Kent,
better known as the Office of
Student Affairs. Notice the
plaster walls and the bright
colors. Notice especially the air
conditioners near the front
steps of Kent. They aren't
connected to your rooms boys
and girls.

A visit to the laundromats
provided in the basements of
Dabney (on McCormick Road)
and Dunnington (on Alderman
Road) should also prove very
educational. Many a student
has entered them with an
armful of dirty clothes and a
handful of change, and exited
several hours later with an
armful of dirty clothes and a
half-full box of wet detergent.

Playing Games

In the laundromats one
must play the same game as in
the snack room, observing
carefully the actions of the
washers and dryers.

There is much more to say
about dorm life, but discover it
yourself It beats lying around
in your room. One more word
of advice to those of you living
on the first or second floor: if
you ever see anything flashing
by your window some
night, don't stick your head
out.