The Michigan Daily - New Student Edition - September 3, 1996 - 11C
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By Matthew Smart
Daily Staff Reporter
Central Campus isn't the only place where students
gather knowledge to earn their degrees.
Located just a few short miles from the heart of the
University, North Campus is home to the College of
Engineering, the School of Music and the School of Art
and Architecture. It is also home to undergraduate and
graduate students living in Bursley Hall. Vera Baits
Housing and the Northwood apartment complexes.
University buses provide free transportation between
Central and North Campus. The main bus stop on Cen
tral Campus is .ocated at the Ruthven Exhibit Museum.
The Pierpont Commons bus stop is the main pick-up-
and-drop-off point on North Campus. Each of the dif-
ferent routes stop at both points, and buses usually
come within five to 15 minutes.
"The buses are fine weekdays," said Matthew
Houser, an Engineering senior. "Weekdays they run
about every 20 minutes, but you can wait as long as
40."
While cars are a good alternative to buses across
campus, parking is difficult on North Campus and
almost impossible on Central Campus, he said.
Construction has been a major presence for the past
year across campus. The Lurie Memorial Bell Tower
now stands as the centerpiece of North Campus. The
carillon's-lowest note will be played by a six-ton bell,
one of dozens of bells specially crafted in the Nether-
lands for the enormous instrument.
"The construction has been an inconvenience, but
you're really proud of (the campus) when they are
done," said Engineering senior Christine Seto. "In the
past year it has gotten a lot prettier."
"I definitely think it's one of the best engineering
campuses," Seto said.
The new Media Union is meant to merge the creative
aspects of disciplines across the entire campus. It will
house an electronic library, interactive multimedia
classrooms, a virtual reality laboratory, theater and per-
formance spaces and design and innovation studios.
"Every activity in the (Media) Union will test
whether the technology is there just for its own sake or
is really useful for helping creative people," said Ran-
dall Frank, Media Union project director.
The Media Union currently houses the offices for the
Computer Aided Engineering Network, the engineering
library and many of the engineering computers previ-
ously located in other buiidings.
"The Media Union is like a mall," Seto said, referring
to the large atrium and abundance of space.
Along with the Media Union, the newly constructed
Engineering Center will provide more classroom and
computer laboratory space for students.
But classrooms and bus rides aren't the only thing
North Campus has to offer.
The Pierpont Commons has a bookstore, three
restaurants, a cafeteria, a video game arcade and offices
for the Department of Public Safety and other Univer-
sity departments.
The campus also has numerous sculptures, including
the Wave Field, which is an earth sculpture carved and
molded from the ground. It looks like rolling waves of
water stuck in time but made of dirt and grass.
Other sculptures abound across the campus land-
scape, making North Campus a good place for a walk-
ing tour, Houser said.
The cornerstone to undergraduate life on North
Campus is Bursley, the newest and one of the largest
residence halls at the University.
Houser has lived in Bursley for three years.
"Bursley probably has the best food of all the
dorms," Houser said. "Everyone should eat at least one
meal at Bursley."
He added that there aren't many places to eat on
North Campus, as opposed to the many cafes and
restaurants on South State Street and South University
Avenue on Central Campus. "We really need more
places to eat. Wok Express doesn't really count as a
place to eat," Houser said.
"You're never very far from a bunch of computers,'
Houser said. "You rarely have to wait for a computer.
Not at all like Angell Hall."
Angell Hall is the largest computing site on campus
and is located on the west side of the Diag on Central
Campus. Lines of students waiting to use computers
are frequent there.
Seto said that although she has lived on Central
Campus and will continue to live there, she enjoys
North Campus.
"It's a good getaway," she said.
Houser said he enjoys Bursley and North Campus
for a number of reasons. "It's close to all my classes,"
he said.
"It's quiet. If you need to get some studying done it's
great. If you want to party you can go down to Central;"
Houser said.
While Houser said that Bursley may seem isolated
from the activity of the rest of campus, he pointed out
that Bursley has its own type of culture and atmos-
phere, with a variety of residence hall activities, includ-
ing a yearly Bursley street party.
"There's really not too much to do on North Campus,
so there's not much else to do but be friendly" Houser
said.
The dorm has short halls, allowing people get to
know each other without the pressure of getting to
know everyone on the floor right away, Houser said.
Wh Lurie Bell Tower rises over North Campus. The bell tower, which contains a six-
ton bell to play its lowest note, was dedicated in April.
U I
FILE PHOTO
ecent University graduate Inger Rasmussen works on a flyer to publicize her Bachelor of Fine Arts photographic exhibition.
tudents use computers for papers, e-mail, game playing, desktop publishing and programming, among other things.
Students addicted to e-mail
By Matthew Smart
Daily Staff Reporter
One of the things a world-class uni-
versity like the University of Michigan
>ffers is a world-class computer system,
and part of that sophisticated computer
system is electronic mail.
Whether it's a message to a friend in
Australia, a plea for more money to a par-
ent or a confirmation of a study group
with classmates, e-mail is essential com-
munication for many University students.
"I use e-mail every day," said
Matthew Guthaus, an Engineering
unior. "I work through my e-mail."
Guthaus works at the Computer Aided
Engineering Network, which supports
computers and other resources for North
Campus classes.
E-mail is a tool for communicating
with another person or with a group
ouickly, efficiently and cheaply.
home using a modem. The most popular
program to access e-mail is called
"pine." The program lets users create
folders to store messages and create
mailing lists, like a list of friends to
whom the user often sends messages.
Mailing lists allow a person to send
many copies of a message to an entire
group of people.
"Mailing lists are good, but people
abuse them," Guthaus said. "When
advertisers get on them
they are annoying." " o
Addresses for mailing
lists are public, and probai
advertisers can send
unsolicited messages. messa
Many incoming stu-
dents learn about e-mail day, bu
during summer orienta-
tion or during the first abouti
few weeks of the acade-
Guthaus said he has a mailing list of
people who graduated from high school,
with him. Most are students at other uni-
versities around the country, with quite a
few on either coast.
"It's a great way to keep in touch,
Guthaus said.
Students with computers at home or in
their dorm rooms can also access e-mail
if they have the proper connection. This
usually requires a modem and special
software.
ITD has resources to
help students in their e-
y 50 mail endeavors. Resi-
dence halls also have
es a staffs to answer questions.
When students go
t only back home for a visit or
over the summer, they
Iye can continue to keep in
touch through e-mail.
Have we got a
deal for you!
We have a serious overload of top-quality used
books at way low prices. From anthropology to
zoology, if it's a UM text, we've got you covered,
at great savings.
" Save 25% or more
* Over $800,000 worth of quality used books
(and we're tired of lugging them around!)
" When you want to sell them back,
we pay the same price as for new!
Extended hours during book rush!
rg
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