At some point during that year we pulled a couple of stunts in which we radically reorganized Ace's room while he was out. On one occasion we actually emptied his room and stashed the contents elsewhere (O, for the days of such boundless energy!...). One outcome of these stunts was the realization that if we were to designate that section of the corridor as 'ours' (i.e., an adjunct to our room spaces), we might as well go ahead and furnish it.

During the first half of 1970 we installed furnishings to turn the 'zone' into a communal living room. We installed a red light bulb in the zone's overhead fixture. Additional posters and memorabilia were affixed to the walls. Lounging furniture was scavenged and put in place. There were desks available to afford us auxiliary work areas, because some nights the hallway was more amenable to studying / working than the rooms. We used this zone as if it were the lounge area for our set of rooms, and we deliberately meant it to force passers-by to stop and get acquainted.

The dorm maintenance folks didn't exactly love this idea, but we negotiated a truce to the effect that we'd take responsibility for our zone's light bulbs and make sure to leave sufficient pass-through space so as not to interfere with their comings and goings.

Dave Brigode is front and (sorta) center in this photo. That's Terry DeColumna sitting to the right, in his leather jacket and sunglasses. I'm pretty sure that's my roommate Phil Mirowski vaguely visible seated behind Dave.

I can't pinpoint the date or situation depicted in this photo. We hadn't furnished the 'zone' to this extent during fall term 1969. That means this photo was taken no earlier than winter term 1970. The 'zone' was dismantled (or at least never this elaborate) after spring term 1970, so that's the latest timeframe during which this could have been taken. My guess is that it's no later than early spring term 1970, given the fact Terry's wearing his leather jacket.

The photograph was apparently taken looking 'down' the central corridor (i.e., westward toward Phillips). That's not the RA's door at the end of the hallway - it's apparently got glass and a large brass push-plate. The framing through which the photo was taken is probably the end of a stacked desk (analogous to the stacked desks next to Dave in the photo). I'm not sure why an MSU laundry / utility cart is parked in the foreground (lower left). It might be something we used when either initially setting up or finally breaking down the 'zone'.