D-Cup, Coxy and Thor: the lives of David Johnson(s)

Dave "D-Cup" Johnson\nRoom 309 -- the neighbors. A short boy in a visor who resembles Rick Moranis sits in a green camping chair. Two other camping-style chairs sit in the room, accompanied by bunk beds and an entertainment center that takes up an entire wall. And what would the entertainment center be without a Playstation 2? \nFreshman Dave Johnson spends a lot of time next door. About 6'3" with a blonde goatee and husky build, the scene doesn't quite fit him. "I'm not really anything like my friends," Johnson says laughing. \nHe describes himself as a fairly normal guy. \n"I'm easygoing, and moderately intelligent I suppose, but I like a variety of people; you can learn things from them," he says. \nSix students inhabit the room at roughly 7 p.m. Thirty minutes later, three more had nonchalantly dropped by to catch a glimpse of Grand Theft Auto 3, with the hopes of getting in on the controller rotation. \nNext door in Dave's room, posters paying homage to "Clerks," Bob Marley, Mini Me and David Bowie adorn the walls. His roommate, a sophomore who is pledging a fraternity, sits at the computer. After three minutes of small talk, Dave decides to venture back to 309. The crowd has become restless in Johnson's absence.\n"C'mon man, let's go," echoes down the hallway. "Hurry up and die." \nAfter they pause the game, all nine freshmen migrate to Foster. Freshman Matt Glenesk makes another sarcastic comment about Johnson's newly tagged nickname "D-Cup" and all hell breaks loose. In the middle of Fee Lane, Johnson picks his friend up and sprints across the intersection, barely avoiding becoming road kill. \nAfter an enlightening dinner at Foster filled with complaints about what was on TV, dares to change the channel and a deep debate about how hot Jessica Alba from "Dark Angel" is, the crowd heads back to 309.\nJohnson won't be able to hang out late tonight. He has to wake up early for alcohol class in the morning. \n"I got caught drinking in the dorms the first week of school," Johnson says. "And I can't go there and be hung over in the morning because they arrest you." \nHe came to IU from St. Louis because of the reputable business school and also plays club water polo for IU. \n"I played in high school, and it was a good opportunity for me to meet a new group of people and get to play again," he says. \nNow that the season has ended, his weekends are normally dedicated to hanging out with his friends in the dorms or at house and fraternity parties. But most of all, he says his favorite thing about IU has been "all the freedom" that comes with the absence of parents. \nGrand Theft Auto 3 begins to lose the interest of some who reluctantly slip out to take a shower and see where the parties are at for the evening. \nSo, a few of the guys head off to fraternity row, a few (like Glenesk) study for calculus and then there are those like Johnson, who had a party lined up, but no car to get there and a 9 a.m. alcohol class. \nDave "Coxy" Johnson\nDave "Coxy" Johnson says he likes to stay organized and party, an attitude evident by the state of his house. A retro-inspired floor plan complete with window sills and shelves lined with beer bottles of every brand decorate the kitchen. There is even a Coca-Cola bottle opener built into the wooden panels of the family room wall, right above the TV controllers that are lined up on the end table, parallel to one another. The place is spotless. \nJohnson, a former member of the disbanded fraternity Theta Chi, plays Foosball with three friends before going to the bars late on a Saturday night. Crosby, Stills and Nash blares on the stereo as the four friends fight about the current score of their drunken match. \n"On the weekends, we normally go out to the bars, or try to find parties," says Johnson, who adds that his favorite place to relax after class is Nick's English Hut. "It's good times, not as crowded as Kilroy's, and that's where my friends are."\nOriginally from Valparaiso, Ind., Johnson came to IU because of the reputable business school. \n"I chose business because it has the most job security right after high school," he explains. \nA die-hard Led Zeppelin fan, Robert Plant's image hangs next to his bed. A picture of Syd Barrett, "Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh and a tribute to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" adorn the other walls of Coxy's bedroom. The bed is made and the floor is clean, proving Johnson's personality as he describes it.\n"I guess I am a clean freak," he says, pulling a Parliament out his pack, "but I suppose you could go with 'outgoing' and 'charismatic,' too."\nAnd the nickname? Before Johnson was adopted by his stepfather, his last name was Cox. \nOne of Johnson's buddies, eager to describe his friend, chimes in, "You gotta know, Dave's always right. He's never wrong, and you'll never win." \nWhile sipping on Beck's beer and relaxing to Nirvana's Unplugged in NYC the guys begin discussing next semester's schedule and recommending classes to take. Barely awake by this time of the evening, they rant about grade distributions and courses in criminology. \n"Man, I am taking stress-management right now," Johnson says, "and it's like an oxymoron. The damn class stresses me out."\nIn his last year at IU, Johnson definitely appreciates and enjoys college more now that he's older and his circle of friends has widened. \n"It's a lot more fun," he says. "As a freshman, I didn't know a lot of people besides high school friends."\nThor David Johnson\nPerched on his bed, complete with velvet pillows and a down comforter, senior David Johnson watches the Denver Broncos take on the Oakland Raiders. The walls are sea foam green and dried roses hang in the corner of the room. A purple sack labeled "newlywed kit" lies on the floor by the computer. But his black gold-toed socks say it all -- he's an official adult.\nAt 28, Johnson has traveled all around the country. Originally from Bailey, Colo., "way up in the mountains," Johnson took a few years off after high school to attend the Joffrey Dance School in New York City before dancing professionally and performing in musical theater.\n"For people to say 'this is what I want to do with the rest of my life' at the age of 18 is crazy to me," Johnson theorizes. "It takes awhile to figure out what's important to you." \nJohnson says he learned this lesson firsthand after deciding he was looking for something more than he found while dancing in New York. So he came to Bloomington to study biology.\n"This is one of the best ballet schools in the country -- believe it or not -- and I felt like I could major in something other than ballet while still maintaining my responsibilities to dancing," he explains. \nJohnson also maintains numerous responsibilities in other aspects of his life. He works every Saturday night at Outback Steakhouse, is an assistant instructor for chemistry and is the feature in all the ballet performances, currently playing three roles in the "Nutcracker." A typical weekend for Johnson involves grading papers, doing homework and renting movies with his new wife. \nThough his freshman year is light years behind him, Johnson can still recall living in Eigenmann -- with a sigh and a tone of disgust. \n"It wasn't a very social place to be," Johnson says. He had been living in an apartment during the years after high school and moving into a cramped 14'-by-14' single room was not an easy transition.\nAcademics are something he doesn't take lightly -- as a senior he feels the standards are higher even though classes generally seem to become increasingly interesting. \nJohnson won't deny that this time commitment to academics certainly detracts from his weekends.\n"My weekend life isn't real exciting right now, being swamped with the wedding and all," Johnson confesses, "and my room is generally neater than this." \nWhat makes him different from the rest of the Dave Johnsons? \n"I'm old", he says, "and I am the only ballet dancer"