Thursday, 4/24/97 A place of their own Busy roommates Anthony,
Van discuss apartment life
By Carol McKay Daily Bruin Contributor Hearing a pin drop would
be a miracle in apartment 305. A stereo and television, positioned
next to each other on a stand in the living room, compete for
attention over the noise of running shower water and the indistinct
conversation of a speaker phone. The residents of apartment 305,
Van Johnson and Anthony Brockington, are immune to the static. To
them the sounds are simply background noise. And they deal with it
simply – by talking loudly. "I don’t watch the TV. I just have it
on," said Anthony, a fourth-year political science student. His
roommate Van, is the one who heads straight for the stereo when he
gets home. "It seems like I’m fated to be in music," said Van, a
fourth-year student who hopes to major in communication studies.
Music is a big part of his life. As both an intern at Qwest Records
and a DJ for KLA, Van spends a lot of time doing what he enjoys
most. "It’s neat to see the network growing and to see how the
music industry works," he said. Van thinks that a great deal of his
success is due to the initiative he takes. After spending Winter
Quarter interning at KLA, he "pitched the idea" of a Sunday hip-hop
show to the station’s general manager, and according to Van, the
general manager liked it. "It’s all about doing your own thing. I’m
creating my own vehicle." Despite the fact that, according to Van,
"Anthony’s TV; I’m music," the two roommates get along remarkably
well. "At first we used to get on each other’s nerves," Van said.
"Now, we communicate a lot." Despite slight differences in
personality, the two share much of their lives. "We’re roommates,
friends and fraternity brothers," Van said. The two belong to Kappa
Alpha Phi fraternity. According to Anthony, what makes living
together in a single-bedroom apartment easier for them is having
shared similar previous living experiences. "It’s bearable because
we both lived in the dorms and we both lived in the university
apartments," he said. Compared to those experiences, Anthony is
satisfied with his present situation. "Besides small, overpriced
everything, broken-down roads and no place to park, Westwood is
very college-friendly," he said. Van and Anthony find that it is
easy to make friends and meet people because Westwood apartments
are primarily rented by students. Soon after they moved into their
apartment last fall, however, they discovered that some neighbors
weren’t as eager as others to make friends. According to Anthony,
he and other neighbors were shouting introductions across the
central courtyard one evening when an older tenant asked them to be
quiet. "She lived in Westwood and she was an adult – that’s just
stupid," Anthony said. According to him, their apartment, like most
others, is usually a pretty loud place, with friends stopping by
unexpectedly. Van and Anthony also sometimes find themselves
hosting parties, like last weekend, when they pre-partied before
their fraternity’s Saturday night exchange. "It was off the hook,"
Van said, adding that he likes to host gatherings because he feels
it is a part of himself and his future. As an intern at Qwest, he
finds himself in social situations often, in which he has met some
very famous people such as Boyz II Men, Monifah, and other members
of what he calls "urban society." "(My parties) are good practice.
I love being with people who are totally relaxed, having a good
time," Van said. "I gather my whole collage of friends, racially
diverse people and introduce people to people they don’t know."
Van’s parties are loud, but Anthony enjoys them too. "I’m used to
studying with noise," he said. "We don’t really invite people over,
but there are always people here." The flow of friends coming in
and out of the open doors at their apartment is different from the
flow of people at Anthony’s job, the circulation desk at Powell
Library. Working 14 hours each week, he spends a lot of time
answering questions, retrieving reserve files and just sitting
there. "Sometimes there is a line of 15 people for like two hours
straight, especially during midterms. But then there are times like
this," he said, sitting at the computer with no one to wait on,
"that I love – slow." "Times like this" for Anthony give him the
opportunity to study, which he tries to do on campus as much as
possible. Between his job at Powell and his job as the chief of
investigations for the Election Board, he said that he can
sometimes avoid having to do homework at all when he gets home.
After a long day on campus, usually from about nine in the morning
to nine in the evening. Anthony still has a big evening ahead of
him. In his spare time, Anthony prepares to apply to spend next
Fall Quarter in Washington D.C. "I’m way anxious," he said,
anticipating his chance at a spot in the Center for American
Politics and Public Policy (CAPPP) program. Like his position as
chief of investigations, Anthony sees these opportunities as "good
for experience for my major. It helps to make connections on
campus." Balancing work, his role on the E-board and 16 units is
tough for Anthony, and he has little time to do extra things for
himself, like working out, so time is a valuable commodity. So is
sleep. "I used to think that naps were just for little kids. Now
just an hour, just an hour, would do you," Anthony said. "Your
first class is no problem. Your second class, you just have to hope
that you don’t slip. Today, I had a friend sitting next to me, so
she kept me awake." Van also has trouble waking up in the morning
after late nights of homework, socializing and making phone calls
for his campaign. Van, who is running for a position in the May
USAC elections, said that he is "always late to (his) first class."
Both roommates must walk to campus in the morning, especially since
Anthony’s car was totalled at Christmas time last year. The death
of his car is still a sore subject. "I was hurt. So hurt," Anthony
said, who despite having not suffered a scratch, still exhibits
emotional pain at the mention of his car. "I look at the new models
now. It’s hard." Van said that he hopes to come into the possession
of a car himself soon, which would make life easier. "I’ve been
expecting one for a while now," he said. "It’s like birth. You
know, any day now. My parents have an extra one. They’re just being
anal and making me wait." Van acknowledges that his parents and he
share different outlooks on life due to dissimilar backgrounds.
"They’re both electrical engineers. We grew up differently. I’m
used to having nicer (stuff). So sometimes they think I’m
ungrateful." Although not having a car makes some things more
difficult for Anthony, such as working off campus, which he decided
not to continue this year, he admits that Westwood is a pretty good
place to be if you’re car-less. "If you really need something, you
can get it in Westwood," he said, although he thinks it’s easy to
spend too much money there. "Buying anything in Westwood is
financially inefficient," he said, of the high prices. When he and
Van need to go grocery shopping, which he said happens only "twice
a month", they are lucky enough to have a friend drive them to a
supermarket. "When we run out of food, we just starve," said
Anthony, who finds himself cooking more often than his roommate.
"I’ll admit I’m messy," Van said. "(Anthony’s) always nagging me.
But he used to be way cleaner than he is now. I’m not a slob or
anything, but it has rubbed off. "We just have way too much stuff
for such a small place." According to Van, the apartment which they
rent was easy to find, furnished and hassle-free. They took it,
hoping for the best. "When we first moved in, we saw the neighbor’s
place," Anthony said. He described mounds of clothing and food
piled on the floor, admitting he and Van were concerned that they
would have to deal with infestation. Living near the garbage shoot,
they were even more worried. "We were hella paranoid," Anthony
said. "But amazingly enough, (the bugs) don’t come in here." Van
and Anthony agree that apartment life is right for them, and both
have applied for positions as apartment coordinators (AC) for next
year. "It should be a pretty strenuous thing," said Van, on the
position of AC. According to Van, an AC receives payment for the
job and is responsible for everything from "plumbing to throw up on
the wall. "It all evens out, though. I guess it’s worth it." About
their own apartment, Van and Anthony are satisfied but less than
euphoric. "This apartment’s cool. It does its job," Anthony said.
"It’s not something you need to floss," Van added, looking around.
"We are college students. This is where we live. I would never be
embarrassed to bring anyone here." (l.) Van Johnson, left, and
Anthony Brockington are roommates, friends and fraternity brothers.
(Below) Van, second from left, and Anthony, third from left,
entertain their friends, Troy Gines, left, Karen Dicks, right, and
Gabrielle Union, foreground, in the wee hours of the morning. (l.)
Music is a big part of Van’s life – he interns at Qwest Records and
he’s also a DJ for KLA. This explains why the stereo is always
blasting at his apartment. (above left) Van works out at the Wooden
Center after acting class. (above) Anthony checks out a book for a
student – he averages 14 hours a week working at Powell Library’s
circulation desk. CHARLES KUO/Daily Bruin Fourth-year student Van
Johnson jokes with a fellow UCLA student in English class.