Page Ten
THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE
Sunday, March 2, 1958
Page Ten THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE Sunday, March 2, 1958
I Live in an Apartment
A Humorous Insight into the Advantages and Hazards
Of Landlord-Administered Housing
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Last year at this
time, Vernon Nahrgang wrote "an
stimate, eye-witness account of
rass liviog' unodr the title "I Live
in a Dorm." Since then, Mr. Nahrgang
has changed residences, aud, encour-
aged by Ohe mixed reponse to "I
Live in a Dorm," prep ed tte f
lowing article as a discussion of an-
other popular form of student living.)
By VERNON NAHRGANG
Daily City Editor
LIVE in an apartment. It's to
be found on the first floor
rear of what may once have been
a medium-sized residential home,
but has been added to so many
times over the years that the gi-
ant, three-story, white - faced,
sprawling structure gives little
hint of its original form.
This one-time medium-sized
residential home now holds 13
apartments, many of them for
four persons.
But one of the neighbors is
sure there won't be another addi-
tion to the building. He can't see
where anyone could possibly build
an addition on to the structure.
That's what he said the last
time, too.
Yet there is a substantial area
behind the house, currently used ti
as a parking lot for residents who b
have cars and are willing to pay
a monthly parking fee over anda
above their rents. w
And there's a garage, too, which s
is full of furniture and trash-or t
it would probably be leased out as o
another apartment. Somebody o
claims that tent space in the back k
yard is rented out during the sum-
mer, but I don't believe it. w
f:
AS FOR my own apartment, it's d
a three-room affair with a pri- o
vate entrance off the back porch. 1
The back porch is the shaky flight
of wooden steps between the iron
fire escape and the south side J
basement entrance. r
There's a kitchen, the largest n
room of all, a "living room" and l
a bedroom. The kitchen, probably t
just that in the original dwelling, a
is big enough for a family of eight. b
Or ten.
It used to be bigger, but when d
the rearrangement of the house t
into apartments was done, there
had to be a bathroom somewhere p
and the kitchen just lost out.
Now, in the corner, there's an ex- p
rn'
ra little room that didn't use to we were going to have all the heat
e there. _ we needed. Then the landlord
In fact, it seems that early ten- came around putting up the storm
ants shared another bathroom windows, and, to be friendly, we
ith the people next door-there helped him a little.
till remains a door (locked) in After that we noticed that the
;he kitchen, from behind which heat wasn't on anymore.
ne can hear water running and But when it got colder, we be-
ther noises while eating at the gan to get heat during the days.
itchen table, During the nights we were on our
But the kitchen is well stocked own.
ith cupboards and shelves, re- Still, the landlord will "check
rigerator and stove, sink and the radiators" on request.
rain, and even a radiator. And,
f course, we pay for those lux- TN FACT, he'll usually listen to
ries. any request.
In September, we insisted on
[HE "LIVING ROOM" is really having an exact amount of furni-
one big, old multi-purpose ture according to our needs. The
oom. It has a desk in every cor- landlord happily agreed, and we
er with a couch, "easy" chair and signed the lease,
amp scattered in between to make Since then he's slowly been mov-
hings cozy. A rug on the floor al- ing in the furniture. The last desk
most reaches to some of the walls, came in January just after exams.
ut not quite. We're still waiting for a chair
There is also an assortment of to match the desk.
esk lamps (fluorescent) because As usual in Ann Arbor apart-
hey are cheaper, ments, there is no maid or house-
The bedroom is a converted keeper. Maintenance of the apart-
orch. ment is left entirely to the resi-
That the bedroom is a converted dents-who even have to buy their
porch is obvious every day of the own brooms.
winter. The insulation between the As a result, the apartment is
swo sets of storm windows that often in need of cleaning. But the
sake the walls of the bedroom landlord doesn't seem to notice-
elps a little. So does the canvas or care.
awning that forms the inside wall In fact, the landlord claims he's
overing. tired of it all and wants to sell out.
Sut somehow, in spite of the But the sum he's asking is so large
unior size radiator in the bed- it cannot be mentioned here. He's
oom, there never seems to be a even willing to compromise, just
urplus of heat, so he can get away from it all and
Nor is there a surplus of space. take up something new.
Four bunk beds, four dressers of "Something new' would probab-
orts and a wall of closets (which o be a new apartment building-
sight pass for refrigerators) fill one he could easily build if he sells
,he room quite well, the old one for what he's asking.
A spacious apartment? Perhaps,
>ut only when all four residents IFE FOR AN apartment dwell-
aren't around at the same time. LIE
er, however, is the easiest life
[HE APARTMENT also has a in the world.
landlord. You can, if you like, come and go
He comes ngng on the door in complete ignorance of your
at any hour and for any reasonr neighbors, having nothing to do
Attually, he didn't alwaysb bn with them all year long. Unlike the
;he door. He used to walk right in dorm life, there are no social de-
with his own key until someone got mands placed on the resident.
upat and told him off. 'This, for those students who
In winter, he drops in often to have been sufficiently background-
'check the radiators" and to ed in the ways of social living, is a
"check the windows." convenient way to live. The re-
If a window is letting in any cold sponsibilities are few and there's
.ir, he takes care of it. no one to watch over you.
If a radiator seems to be throw- However, for many - especially
ng off any heat, he takes care of those who escape from the dorms
;hat, too, at the end of a single year - the
Only one radiator is allowed to ways of apartment living are too
ive off much heat-the bathroom seductive and the poorly educated
adiator. That, of course, is to keep lose themselves in the press of
;he plumbing from freezing up. everyday University life.
Late in the fall it seemed as if It is certainly unfortunate that
there cannot be more organized
housing at the University to en-
compass more of these students-
yet at the same time the freedoms
of independent living, while detri-
mental for some, are valuable in
themselves.
OO OFTEN the local apart-
ment-residing student is one
who crawls out of a bed whose
sheets haven't been changed in a
month and dons khakis and sport
shirt from the assortment of cloth-
ing scattered about the room.
His breakfast-if he stops for
one-is something fast and inde-
scribable from the refrigerator.
Back from classes at noon, he
washes a minimum of dishes neces-
sary to preparing a usually sub-
stantial lunch, a lunch whose
menu changes occasionally but is
built around a few unchanging
items.
If the student is a serious one,
he may spend a good part of the
rest of the day at the library,
particularly if he has several
roommates accustomed to study-
ing in the apartment.
Dinner for many is a meal eaten
away from the apartment, al-
though others less concerned over
a balanced diet will continue to
feed themselves on their own idea
of home staples.
Evenings can be spent in a
variety of ways, none of them par-
ticularly constructive. The drive
to get away from the apartment
for as much of the day as possible
is usually strong-and healthful.
THERE is, beyond doubt, a
greater general freedom in
apartment living than there is to
be found in the dorms. But what
the student doss with his freedom
is determined by the education he
has had in the dorms before mov-
ing into an apartment.
To deny a student the privilege
of living in an apartment for at
least one (but not more than two)
of his undergraduate years would
be to withhold an important part
of the "growing up" process that
cannot come from dorm or even
fraternity life alone.
But the preliminary dorm life is
the essential educational process
that, in one but preferably two
years, prepares the student for the
responsibilities of living entirely
on his own.
Learning to get along with a
dorm maid or a local landlord can
often be trying and more often
amusing.
But it's not so bad, really.
LUMBARDS UNIVERSITY DRUG
"the store of togetherness"
INSPIRED BY THE 7 LUMBARDS, OF COURSE
----------- -------- ---- -----,
" We like students -that's for sure .. .
" Our old store looks like heck, but it's clean,
that's certain!
" We serve good food at reasonable prices.
* We have a cashier and our food handlers
DO NOT HANDLE MONEY!
* We manufacture our own fine ice cream
to serve you more for your money. * OUR
MALTS and SHAKES are the largest you ever
had for 30c. They will fill you up till the 12th
of never. * We sell half gallons of our own
ice cream at 77c - every day of the week,
12 favors.!
* We feature STUDENT SUPPLIES and .. .
Famous Lindt chocolate from Switzerland. ..
Droste from Holland ...GILBERT--WHIT-
MAN - PAGE and SHAW from U.S.A....
and from the High Slopes of the Andes, the
famous "BROWN GOLD" COFFEE at $1.50
the pound.
* Our DRUG DEPARTMENT features the
famous McKesson & Robbins Line from the
largest wholesale drug house in the world.
" BESIDES WE HAVE WOOLITE.
So . .. Stop in and get warm any ole time:
* Read our MAGAZINES and BOOKS
(We've got a million of 'em); and YOU are
always Welcome.
Signed: the 7 Lumbards -
Robert - Georgia - Robert Jr. - David - James
Gary - and Madeline.
at
LUMBARDS UNIVERSITY DRUG
1225 South University Ave. Ann Arbor, Mich.
Phone NOrmandy 2-0743
I -
open 'til 9 every night
Except Saturdays - Open Saturday 'til 6:00 P.M.
WASH YOUR OWN CLOTHES
or
We Will Wash Them For You
Cheap - Fast - Dependable
Come in and get a load of all we have to offer you. You
can throw your dirty clothes in a washer and wait, or you
can let us take care of them. Besides this we offer you 48-
hour shirt service, quality dry cleaning, and most of all
our personal quarantee to satisfaction.
WESTINGHOUSE LAUNDROMAT
510 East Williom? NO 3-5540
Around corner from Student Publications
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