The Honors Dorm

Fall, 1980, and I was full of excitement. I was the new president of the HSA, and I was still "alive" as a pre med student, despite the nagging feeling that I was on the wrong academic path.

My last episode was incorrect, as my dear friend Barry pointed out last week. Colin, the now millionaire Chinese guy, didn't come for another year. Rather, my roommate was Rudy a personality-less Filipino from Wisconsin. In the other bedroom was Mike S, a blonde Italian from LI.

Mike and I hit it off right away. We had much in common. We were both the first in our families to seek 4 year college degrees, and we had been to many of the same concerts and sporting events on LI. He was a HUGE Jets fan, though, while I had adopted the Dolphins, thanks to my friend Eric, who took me to games at the OB with his father...

Rudy --bleah. The guy did nothing but study, and cared not at all about anything else. He was the typical cut throat pre med. When I'd ask him to borrow notes from Organic Chem, he'd find a way to "forget." He was so tunnel-visioned, he dropped his Honors class, for fear of getting a pre med "B," and ended up kicked out of the Dorm the following semester.

He was close to Fred, though, his fellow pre med. Fred was the rich Trinidadian Chinese guy. The summer before, Fred and I went to see our Biology professor, Dr. Clegg, about a mistake on the final. I went in first, and Dr. Clegg changed my exam score, which raised me to an "A." When Fred went to see him, Dr. Clegg decided he'd changed enough grades, and kept Fred at a B.

I had nothing to do with the decision, but Fred felt otherwise. I found out in a most hurtful way.

I grabbed Rudy's text book by mistake one day, and when I opened it, a letter fell out, from Fred. I read it. It was all about how "Judas Dave" had betrayed Fred, and I was "typical of my race." Fred went on about now understanding Hitler's motives, and how Jews were evil, and "real Christians like Fred and Rudy" had to band together to avoid the evil Jews like me would visit upon the world.

I had known some anti semitism, of course, but this was the first time it hit so close, and by supposedly educated people. I confronted Fred, and he said I had just hurt him so much, he was lashing out. He always was a bit effeminate, and I wondered in later years whether his feelings for me went a bit deeper than friendship, and knowing I was never going there caused these hateful thoughts.

Whatever. Years later, he became a doctor, and then director of a UM health program. I'd run into him, and he always seemed leery --I guess because he knew I could expose him and cause him, in Miami, many problems for his anti semitism.

Last I heard, he was a health department, director in Alabama. Ha! A Trinidadian Chinaman who hates JEws in Alabama. Talk about a sitcom waiting to be made...

And so, there I was one day, studying Physics in a pair of shorts and no shirt, when there came a knock upon the door. I opened it, and there stood Clark Kent. A tall curly headed handsome fellow, wearing glasses and carrying a plaid suitcase. I immediately said to myself "Nerd from Central Casting."

"Hi --I'm your new roommate. My name's Barry." I invited him in, and (he recalls) offered him a beer. It was probably 11 am. I showed him to Mike S's bedroom, and he settled in. I had no idea I had met my brother, a man 31 years later would still be an extremely close friend...

As usual during the semester, I excelled in Humanities, and struggled in science and math. I took Calculus. Barry, a math whiz, helped me. Still, I was bored and confused in the class, to the point where I spent the entire session staring at the ample bosom of Christina, a freshman from Texas. Christina lived in the Honors Dorm, too, and sunbathed daily in the outback. Her body was legendary --this was pre implant days, and she somehow defied gravity.

So, when faced with learning Derivatives or staring at the goddess of my dorm...One day, as I was staring, I noticed the guy on the OTHER side Christina was staring, too. Our eyes met, over this set of enormous breasts. He gave me the thumbs up sign. After class, we met, and shook hands. We agreed we both had excellent taste. His name was Vince, another guy destined to become my brother...

I struggled mightily in Organic Chem, even though the professor, Harry P Schultz, was one of the most gifted in the university. The WW II vet greeted the huge lecture hall each morning at 8 with a booming "Good morning wonderful fellow students!"

Late in the semester, some wise ass raised his hand, and asked whether Dr. Schultz was being condescending to us by calling us fellow students, since we were novices, and he was a nationally known chemist. Dr. Schultz's reply: "Young man --we are ALL students inthe study of human nature!" I took that wisdom as my own, and think of it daily...

Dr. Schultz ended up giving me a gentleman's C. My best friend Eric, meanwhile, got As both times, as well as As in the rest of his classes (he ended up our Valedictorian, with acceptances into Yale MEd School and a scholarship, which he accepted, to Miami Med).

Meanwhile, I LOVED my English classes, and History classes, and even Psychology. I soared in Religion, thanks to Steve Sapp, a young, energetic Duke transplant, who would go on to become one of my life's mentors..

I skipped Organic one morning, and woke up to hear my radio playing nonstop Beatles songs. I lay in bed loving it. Rudy came in, and said "Lennon got killed. Just as well. Guy was a commie."

I was truly moved --the first time a celebrity death has affected me. John Lennon was one of my heroes. Learning about his death from the crass Rudy made me despise Rudy even more. I have no doubt that Rudy is some amazingly rich doctor somewhere in the MidWest, probably head of his country club and head of his local GOP club, unless he was rejected because of his Filipino background...

Mike S studied and smoked pot, and Barry studied and wrote sappy letters to some high school girlfriend.

We held wonderful parties --themed, and with tons of alcohol.

We met our next door neighbors, including Tere, a red headed valedictorian from Hialeah High, whose Dad was a hurricane meteorologist. Tere was brilliant, but looked like and talked like the simple ginger next door. Her roommate Sandy came from outside of Philly, and had dreams of being an international business woman...

The cast grew. I enjoyed meeting them all...