Ever considered skiing in Los Angeles? Jane Donlon Waters did. As a kinesiology student in the 1970s, she enrolled in a skiing physical education course for her major ““ on campus, naturally.
It so happens that the hills of Westwood are also ample ski slopes.
“We skied on the hill between Janss Steps and Bruin Walk. They put down straw and that’s where we took our class ““ on straw.”
Even a minor thing like Southern California weather couldn’t interfere with a class devoted to the traditional snow sport.
“It would be 75-, 80-degree heat out and we’d be in shorts with skis and ski boots and ski poles. … Did I feel really dumb? Yes,” she said, laughing. “We did get to go on an actual skiing trip at the end of the class.”
While it’s clear that some of the course offerings have changed in the years since Waters’ time at UCLA, certain student pastimes remain.
“Kerckhoff Coffee House was new when I was there. That was before they had coffee places, so that was very cool to get a cappuccino or flavored coffees and entertainment. It was a big deal to us,” she said.
Waters remembers the advantages of staking out study seats in Kerckhoff’s upstairs lounge and coffee house, and the scholarly appeal of Powell Library during finals week. However, in the 1970s, they were more than mere study zones ““ they also doubled as indoor smoking spots.
“(Smoking) was the thing to do, and it was a good excuse to take a study break. … You could smoke in the library and pretty much everywhere. It was before the time of any thought of smoking not being allowed in certain places,” Water said.
In between her science studies, Waters attended football games and basketball games coached by John Wooden.
As an active member of the Chi Omega sorority, she also fondly remembers participating in a former UCLA tradition known as the Mardi Gras festival, an annual event that included skits by different campus groups along with a carnival on the Intramural Field.
“(For) a weekend, fraternities and sororities and the dorms would team up with different groups and sponsor different booths for food or games,” she said. “One year we did “˜Minsky’s Follies,’ which was a whole burlesque show ““ it was crazy. We would build a huge stage with a facade and a balcony on it for dancers.
Students and people from the community would come for this big carnival, which was a lot of fun.”
Waters remembers a different Westwood during her days as a student, and recalls when the area was a popular Los Angeles hot spot.
“When I was there, there were not a lot of chain places. There were mostly independent restaurants and bars,” she said. “It was the place to go in Los Angeles for movie premieres or to go out to restaurants and go shopping. There were a lot of boutiques.
It was really quaint, but very fun.”