Campus Life Summer, 1999

Go North, Young Freshman!
The Land of Peace and Quiet

By Lee Bockhorn

You're running hard, hoping you won't hit a patch of ice that would send you down for the count. You've spotted the big blue vision of a U-M campus bus fifty yards away, and you're dashing like mad to catch it to make your Chem exam on time. You're almost there when the bus pulls away with a screeching roar and a thick belch of black diesel smoke, oblivious to your plea to let you board, and leaves you to wait another ten minutes in the bitter wind and regret having stopped to buy that candy bar...

Sound like fun? If so, you are ideally suited to live on North Campus, which is the ugly stepsister of Central and South campuses at U-M. Central embraces most of your academic buildings and entertainment, while South is home to all things athletic at Michigan. North Campus is home to... trees. And grass, and lakes, and oh yes, a few buildings too. Before you get the wrong idea, future students, let me say that I lived on North Campus for five years, and it has evolved quite a bit from the sleepy place it seemed to be when I first arrived at Michigan. So, let's take a tour of the well-kept secret known as North Campus.

Since there still isn't that much entertainment going on up North, the main reason you will be there is classes. North Campus is home to the schools of Music, Art and Architecture, and Engineering, so there is always an interesting mix of aesthetes and number-crunchers around. In contrast to Central, the buildings of North Campus are all fairly new, and more austere in their architecture. The most spectacular recent additions are the Media Union, a large, glass-enclosed multimedia and technology center, and the Lurie Bell Tower, completed in 1996, which serves as a "focal point" for North Campus just as Burton Tower does for Central.

So where can you go to unwind between those music theory, art history, or FORTRAN classes? Your best bet is the Pierpont Commons, North Campus's rather pale imitation of the Michigan Union on Central. The Commons is home to the inevitable college hangout - a coffeehouse - as well as an expensive cafeteria, a Little Caesar's, a sandwich shop, the North Campus Information Center, branch offices of the Financial Aid and Cashier's offices, and a bookstore where music, engineering, and art students can buy most of their supplies. North Campus students have complained for years about the lack of culinary options at the Commons, especially when compared to the Michigan Union. It doesn't appear that the situation will improve anytime soon, so if you must be on North Campus often and aren't eating at Bursley Hall, plan on bringing a lunch every once in a while - eating at "Sleazer's" every day is not a good idea if you want to maintain a healthy digestive system.

Perhaps you are one of the lucky freshmen who will live at Bursley Hall. You're probably saying, "I know it's bad to live at Bursley, but just how bad will it be?" Take heart - I lived there for two years and can honestly say it's not bad! Bursley is actually one of the best dorms on campus, aside from its location. The rooms are a good deal larger than those in most Central Campus dorms, and the top-floor rooms have such high ceilings that you can build a large loft to create two separate stories. The cafeteria has arguably the best dorm food on campus, and is also home to a character nicknamed "Sexy Grandpa," a Harley-riding food server (and really nice guy) who has become something of a campus legend. Finally, a strong community atmosphere exists at Bursley, as a "we're-all-stuck-here-together" attitude prevails among its over 1,000 residents.

The obvious drawback to living up North is the inconvenience of getting to classes and entertainment on Central. If you are an art or music student, living at Bursley is great; you can oversleep until 8:30 and still have time to dash down to your 8:40 class. (I speak from extensive experience.) However, if you are an LS&A student with lots of early morning classes on Central, like most freshmen, living at Bursley can be aggravating. You invariably have to wake up half an hour earlier than your friends on Central to get to the same class. (Waking up at 7am might not sound tough after high school, but you should know that, upon arrival at college, an amazing biological change occurs in your body that makes it damn near impossible to wake up before 8am without the help of explosives.) Also, constantly depending on buses for transportation to classes, entertainment, and shopping can grow tiresome, but for the most part the bus system is efficient and dependable. As long as you plan ahead, and aren't dumb enough to put yourself in a situation where your whole future depends on a bus arriving in the next five minutes, you will be okay.

Lest you begin thinking that North Campus is hell on earth, let me point out another benefit of wandering up north. Although North Campus is growing rapidly, it is still peaceful and serene compared to Central. If you like things a little more relaxed, but still want to be just ten minutes away from the excitement downtown, North Campus is terrific. You can have a picnic or a nap with the ducks by the music school pond, enjoy a coffee while soaking up sun at an outdoor table at the Commons, or simply wander around among the trees spotting animals. In my time here I have seen ducks, geese, squirrels, beavers, rabbits, raccoons, skunks (watch out for those!), and even deer on North Campus. Also, the drawback of having fewer attractions becomes advantageous when it comes to safety - there is far less crime on North Campus than on Central (the Bursley parking lot is a notable exception), and you generally feel safe wandering around at any hour of the night.

So do not despair, future Wolverines, if your experiences at Michigan take you up to North Campus. It's not a half-bad place - if nothing else, it's a nice refuge from the latest noisy construction on Central. Just remember, if you are ever faced with the choice of buying a candy bar or making sure you catch the bus on time, choose the bus. MR

 The U-M Bus System: An Insider's Guide

So, you are living on North Campus, or just have classes there. This means that you will need to negotiate the notorious U-M bus system. Here are some tips gleaned from years of bus-riding experience:

  1. Get a bus schedule when you arrive on campus and keep it handy. These are available behind the driver's seat on all the buses. Many students complain that the buses do not follow the schedule, but that is baloney. Weekend service can be a little erratic, but on weekdays the buses run on time, and the scheduled breaks in service actually occur when they are supposed to.
  2. Plan ahead. If you have to get to something where punctuality is a must - an exam, a movie, a date - don't casually expect to catch a bus at Bursley at say, 6:50, and make it to Central by 7:00. You'll only stress yourself by praying that every stoplight will stay green when you're riding the bus. Leave a little early... and relax!
  3. Beware of evening exams. Many intro classes, particularly math and chemistry, hold midterm exams during the evenings. On these occasions, it is common to see hundreds of freshmen trying to cram like sardines onto a single bus at Bursley to go to one of these tests. (In the evenings, buses run less frequently than during normal daytime hours.) So again, plan ahead and leave yourself some extra time.
  4. Make good use of your bus-riding time. Depending on where you are going, your ride might last anywhere from five to twenty minutes. This is a chance to exercise those vaunted time management skills, without which your GPA will plummet like a wounded duck. Do some reading for your classes, or pull out your day-planner and organize tomorrow's schedule. Or, socialize - get to know some new people. If you've been pulling too many all-nighters and need a little rest to make it through that lecture class you are headed to, close your eyes and take a cat-nap. Whatever you choose, just use the time effectively; ten or twenty minutes on a bus every day adds up over eight months.

This article was published in the New Student Issue of The Michigan Review (Volume 18, Number 1).
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