Towering above the NIU campus in the Stevenson and Grant residence halls, there are 13th floors unknown to many.

From the outside, people may recognize them as the modules that sit atop the buildings, but from the inside they can be forgotten, since the elevators do not reach the 13th floors (students must take the elevators to the 12th and then the stairs to arrive at the 13th).

It is on the 13th where apartments are situated for the NIU graduate staff. Mechanical equipment to support the building infrastructures is also located on the floor.

“Housing and Dining have a number of staff who are required to live in the residence halls and/or receive housing as part of their compensation package,” said Kelly Wesener, executive director for Housing and Dining.

As part of this “compensation package,” the apartment provides a spacious living room, a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen and two closets.

Living policies do not differ much from the regular residence hall rooms, other than being permitted to more advanced cooking and having additional pets, such as cats, but no dogs.

When Grant and Stevenson’s construction were completed and fully occupied in 1965 and 1968, respectively, they were built with the intent of having 13th floor apartments to house residential life staff.

However, according to tradition and superstition in the Western culture, the number 13 is seen as a harbinger of bad luck, causing many builders and architects to leave out the 13th floor in buildings, and sometimes even counting out other “bad luck” numbers to accommodate other cultures.

In an article published last March in the Chicago Tribune, it was estimated that 15 percent of Otis Elevator Co. elevators around the world do not include a button for the 13th floor.

Despite the ominous connotations and superstitions of a building having a 13th floor, the buildings’ architects referred to them in the original floor plan as the 13th floor.

For one graduate assistant who lives on the 13th floor of Stevenson Tower D, life up there has been pleasing.

“I like it,” said Bianca McGraw, an art major and graduate assistant for programming and resources. “It’s spacious and nice and even though it is kind of secluded, I can play my music a little bit louder probably than the [other floors’] residents can there. And it’s perfect for me and my two kitties.”