On the topic of his off-campus living, I don't know if you've seen the material on this unlikely site, posted by former UH classmates. It's a long, slow load with lots of pics, but when it's done, search on REMINISCENSES, (about halfway down) and you'll find three photos and this testimonial in .jpg format. The resolution is very poor, so I've typed it out:
I CALLED HIM OBAMA
I travelled from Los Angeles via Boston. Obama came from East Africa. Somehow we ended up on a small island in the midst of the Pacific. Our mutual purpose was education. We shared classes together and an occasional break over a drink and some pupusl.
For any of us to say we knew Obama well would be difficult. He was private man with academic achievement his foremost goal. He lived somewhat like a hermit in a small room up in the valleys of Manoa. I visited him on my Lambretta and wondered how he sustained himself outside of his focused attention to his academic skills.
Then there was the other side. Most of my closest friends were studying at the East West Center. Obama was a student at the University. Bureaucratically, this was a distinction. But after you got to know your classmates those barriers fell aside.
Obama had little reservation about joining a party. And it was on those occasions that his gregarious nature took over. I remember him as a spirited interlocutor -- you name the issue he was ready. Fun was fun, but there are also those longer lasting impressions that here was a man with a keen intellect.
I left Hawaii in mid-term to join the Foreign Service and lost contact with Obama. We learned of his death in Kenya. The New York Times and CNN offered glimpses of his son's emergence at Harvard and in Chicago.
Prompted by Senator Obama's book, "Dreams from My Father," one of us found a photo which recalls a period not yet fully reported. We decided to offer our reflections.
Robert Ruenitz
The "not yet fully reported" is an understatement, to say the least. The question is, will it ever be fully and/or honestly reported?
It does verify a few things: the E-W Center did exist, if only on paper; Obama lived in a house, by himself, off-campus. (I assume it's the same address that's been reported by the Honolulu Advertiser.) And Ruenitz, a classmate, also wondered how Sr. supported himself.
Oops — my mistake. REMINISCENSES won’t get you there (it’s not text). Use “Bob Ruenitz” (no quotes) instead.
I have the letter at the website in my favs thanks. One reason Sr would have been anxious to move out of the Y.M.C.A. was their policy of No Alcohol! If you will notice not one of Sr’s friends with the exception of Neil Abercrombie mentions knowing Ann. Abercrombie would have a reason for knowing Ann since he was teaching at UH when she returned from Indonesia and the Dunhams lived near Abercrombie prior to Ann marrying Lolo.
To date I have not found a single student from the infamous 1960 Russian language class, and journalists interviewed a former student from a few years later, not the 1960 class. That student named Ella Lury Wiswell and Isabella Tripianky as the teachers of the class and yet the only mention of Isabella Tripianky can be found on a blog and in an excerpt of the book by Michael Patrick Leahy. Aside from the “official story” the only person to verify that Ann went to a Russian language class was Maxine Box who mentioned receiving a letter from Ann in which Ann said she had met a male student in the class.
It’s surprising that Sr didn’t mention the difficulty of living in HI with its high cost of living and yet he did complain in Cambridge. He got money from somewhere so he could move into the home in 1960 which is before the Dunhams properly entered the picture and he was also able to send money and clothing back to Kenya. (as per numerous interviews with Kezia)He also had the funds to undertake a three month tour of the mainland before his arrival at Harvard so yes it is an under-reported time. From photos of Sr at parties in 1960-61 Ann is definitely not present, but the parties took place at Arnie and Susie Nachminoff’s base housing.(Some aspects of base housing are similar the world over! lol)
I might point out that Robert Ruenitz was a member of the Foreign Council at one time but little can be found about him now.
Finally I am including a 1965 article from “Time” which mentions the haphazard running of the East-West Center from the time of its inception.(I tend to trust older articles from “Time” because journalists were actually journalists at the time compared to what they are now!)
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,833505,00.html