30 Years Ago: Pullman Experience Begins

Once I had decided that I was going to WSU, My next step was to pick a so-called residence hall, (we call them dorms), I picked Neil Hall one of 4 co-ed dorms. Co Ed Dorms, I believe where a new concept, the idea being that men and women live in a dorm together, it fosters better communications rather that if they see each other only in the classroom or the dining hall.
In mid September, my parents dropped me off at Neil Hall. It was an ugly hideous building with of all things, ramp to get to each floor. Women where on the first and third floor, men on the second and fourth. I of course wanted a top floor, so when they showed me the floor plan, I picked 430, an easy number to remember. Since a great many people from my High School went to WSU, I wanted to meet new people, Neil Hall was great in that respect since most of the students there where from the west side of the state.
I went up for Freshman orientation in the middle of September, 1976. Now, first semester starts in the last week of August so the semester will end at Christmas time. That started the year after I left. But where getting far off the topic at hand.
It was about Wednesday that I met my roommate. Jeff was an interesting guy. I walked in from the dining hall or something and there he was already with stuff put away in the room. Jeff walked up, extended his hand and introduced himself. Tall, mop of hair on his head, printed shirt (considered totally cool in the seventies) and a look like he had better things to do and places to go. He was from Interlake High in Bellevue and did all the cool Bellevue things. He had a measuring tape and was fitting the room to make more livable. He made several calculations. He had to put one of those KJR stickers on the dorm room window, those stickers where commonly seen on the back of cars, mostly in Seattle. Some radio chick named Sunshine Shelly would drive around Seattle and tell cars with the sticker to pull over. If the driver was listening to that station, they would hear and pull over where Sunshine would award them handsomly with cash. You wonder if he thought that Sunshine Shelly would drive all the way to Pullman, cruise down Stadium Way and award him. Not likely, his dad worked for Kaye-Smith, the company owned in part by the late TV personality Danny Kaye. Kaye-Smith owned KJR, KISW and at that time a baseball team yet to play it's first game-- the Seattle Mariners. I told him that my cousin Burl worked for KJR, he told me that he knew Burl, but his Dad was the brass and that his Dad made the big decisions.
End--part 1