Most NIU students don’t have a problem riding a Huskie Bus or attending class, but 30 Genesis students are just learning how to live in our college society.

Genoa’s Genesis House is a place for mentally retarded adults to live and learn. Residents range in age from 19 to 75 years old, Julie Maxson, developmental training administrator and Genesis residential director said.

There are 94 Genesis residents, Maxson said, of which 30 regularly come to NIU to use the facilities here.

Genesis residents are free to use the Holmes Student Center, the Huskie’s Den, the Office of Campus Recreation, some rooms in the Founder’s Memorial Library and various classrooms throughout campus, Jack King, liason between Genesis House and NIU said in an article published in a summer issue of the Northern Star.

Other Genesis residents are involved in a program at Genoa Kingston High School and six residents are actively working in the community, Maxson said.

“We’re trying to get them (the residents) to be comfortable with themselves and the community,” she said. “They won’t be living in sheltered environments all their lives.”

King said, however, all the residents have lived in sheltered environments and institutions their entire lives.

Ray and Chris, whose last names must not be given according to Genesis policies, have lived at the Genesis House for 16 and 17 years, respectively; they are both 40 years old. Both of them come to NIU on a regular basis and said they like coming to NIU “very much.”

Maxson said part of the reason the Genesis residents come to NIU is to enhance social skills that will enable them to function better in the community.

However, some students have allegedly complained about the Genesis residents possibly abusing their privledges at NIU.

Ray said, “I like the people at NIU. The people are never mean to me.”

But Chris said, “Sometimes, some of the students can be mean,” but most of them are nice.

Some students’ complaints concern Genesis residents using NIU facilities without paying, but King said Genesis pays for the use of facilities, including the Huskie’s Den and the Huskie Bus Line, out of a budget set up by the Illinois Department of Public Aid and the Illinois Department of Mental Health.

However, Genesis residents do not pay to sit in on an occasional class because they do not take up space that could be paid for by an NIU student, King said.

Maxson said the only complaints she has heard of concern the HSC. She said Genesis residents do spend a considerable amount of time there during the winter and during rainy weather. Genesis residents do not go outside as often during those situations because they are not used to that weather because they have been instititonalized all their lives.

Ray said when the weather is bad, he stays inside the HSC and takes walks with his supervisors.

In spite of any complaints made, Maxson said coming to NIU “really increases the client’s morale. They get really upset if they miss school.”

“I love it, oh, yes,” Chris said. He has taken classes at the music building, he said, where he listens to classical and rock-and-roll music. And he said he has just learned how to speak Spanish, but he is not”very good at it.”

Chris has used the OCR for weight lifting, basketball and running, he said. He said he is a “very good runner, I’ve won a gold medal at the (Special) Olympics.”

Ray attends art classes at times and said he has made two candlesticks. “I like art best,” he said.

Maxson said the residents “really want to do what normal students do. It’s not fair that they just be tucked away in a sheltered environment.”

But she said “if they (NIU students) feel uncomfortable (with the Genesis residents using NIU facilities) I’d be happy to talk with them or invite them to visit the facility (Genesis House).”

Most NIU students will get used to having the Genesis residents on campus if they keep an open mind, Maxson said.