Vlasta Komorous-Towey is not your average Girls Gone Wild, drunk by noon, Paradise Hotel watching, frat party, pole dancing co-ed.

Aside from being extremely dedicated to her schoolwork and having remarkable posture, she is the daughter of a Czechoslovakian political refugee. Her mother escaped the Russian invasion in 1968 and moved to Germany and Canada, then Berkeley, Calif.— where the Komorous-Towey family currently calls home.

The name 'Vlasta' means 'woman who loves her country' in Czech.

"In the Czech Republic it is a very common name, like Mary," Komorous-Towey said in her Allen Hall dorm room.

But there is nothing common about the work ethic she has for her industrial design major. Technically, she has 15 hours of class, but she spends more than double that time in the studio working on projects each week.

"Last week I had one project due in one of my classes and I spent at least forty hours on it ... it's insane," Komorous-Towey laughed. "The way the art department works is that you're in class for double the time you get credit for."

Her enthusiasm for industrial design has been burning strong since her junior year of high school, when she took classes at the Pratt Institute — an art school in New York. "I like making things and I like designing things," she said. "I just like that I could design something that people could use every day."

Jennifer Halvorson, a sophomore in FAA, said Komorous-Towey is very crafty and sometimes gives out homemade cards to her friends when they're having a "really, really bad" day. "She just likes to help people," Halvorson said. "She's an exceptional friend and everything."

Komorous-Towey met Halvorson during freshman year after their Campus Acquaintance Rape Education (CARE) program workshop in the Pennsylvania Avenue Residence Halls. It was already dark outside by the time they were released. "After they scare you and tell you that you're doomed you have to walk home in the dark," Komorous-Towey said. "I was like, does anybody live in Allen?" Halvorson did and an instant friendship was sparked.

Komorous-Towey's dorm room is extremely tidy, equipped with an oriental rug, a neat stack of National Geographic magazines, an ironing board and a bed made so well you could bounce a quarter off of it — but make sure you don't land the coin on her stuffed "Piggy," which she has had since she was two years old.

Although Halvorson said Komorous-Towey is exceptionally organized, nothing can prepare visitors for the room's bulletin board. Gift cards and pictures are strategically placed beneath push pins and two tight elastic crossing straps. Pictures of family and friends, children she babysits, a priest and the Dalai Lama are all surrounded by doodled number caricatures.

"My parents send me a lot of packages ... I'm an only child," Komorous-Towey said, giggling with her hands folded between her legs in a prayer position. "I started not remembering to tell them (her parents) when I got them (the packages) so those are the numbers of the packages."

Her desk has a laptop computer and a Lego giraffe made by one of her friends. The subject of Legos got her to express an emotion other than kindness for the first — and only — time in the interview. Komorous-Towey had to buy the Legos for a design class project.

"It was like $17 and the container's only half full," she said pointing at the blue tub. "It's really annoying."

Even the subject of politics didn't get a rise from what Halvorson calls a "default" Breakfast Club princess. Komorous-Towey said she usually votes absentee for all California elections, but her form didn't come back in time for the recall. Regardless, she said that she would have voted for "no recall" and, in the case of one, the Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. "It's the closest thing to not having a recall, so no Arnold (Schwarzenegger), sorry," Komorous-Towey chuckled. "I don't have anything against Arnold in particular, just he's a Republican."

Komorous-Towey admitted that she isn't what most would call conservative and if she can find any free time she enjoys listening to "This American Life" on National Public Radio, while nibbling on some of her grandmother's imported Canadian chocolates.

Halvorson said the two girls try to get out of the studio and get food at Basil Thai or watch movies to relax. "We try to find good ones (movies), which is hard," she said. "But there isn't really much time for us to cut loose."

Still, Komorous-Towey remains focused and positive with her college lifestyle. "I really like Illinois and I'm glad I came to school here," she said.