CAMPUS: On and Off

What is it like to live on campus in the USA? What privileges does it give? What obligations? How different is it from the life off campus? I will try to answer these questions…

Every university has its grounds, where all its buildings are situated. Usually they include halls with classrooms and offices, dorms, a canteen, campus police, library and some others. Such an area resembles a small town with its own life and inhabitants, and also its own rules, which you may like or not but have to obey. In the US most students live on campus in dorms (dormitories); men’s and women’s are separated for the purpose of discipline. Still there are people who live off campus in private houses, or at their parents’ places; but they have no problems with getting to classes as almost everybody, as I have already said, has a car. By the way, cars here have numbers only on the back, while on the front there may be an emblem of a university or the name of the owner. Many teachers also live on campus, but they have special houses, though not very big.

Common obligations for the members of such a community include discipline, mutual respect and obedience to university policy (it is described in special university books that they give every freshman). Besides, there are dorm rules: all visitors are to leave before 12 a.m.; “quiet hours” should be observed (from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m.); there must be no rubbish in the halls; etc. For violation on the rules students are fined approximately $10, but it depends on the violation.

Every student and teacher has an ID (Identification Card) – a pass to everywhere on campus; it allows them to go to the cafeteria, library, computer lab, other dorms. These cards have electronic codes on them and are carefully checked. In fact, I was a bit surprised by the number of documents Americans ask for. During the registration (necessary for every student at the beginning of the new academic year) you are asked to present all possible papers with which you still have to spend quite a lot of time queuing: passport, I-20, I-94 (for international students), medical documents, insurance, social security number (SSN), ID,… In fact, it is worth doing, because when you are finished with the paper work, and may breathe freely, you get many privileges: computer lab with unlimited Internet access and ability to use all campus facilities including gyms, swimming pool, tennis courts. It is very convenient, especially in the USA, where almost all young people try to go in for at least one kind of sport. Sport is so popular that members of university teams can even be allowed to miss classes if they have some matches, competitions or training, and each university has got several teams: football, baseball, basketball, etc. For example, the Southern Arkansas University (SAU) American football team is called Muleriders. They got such a name because they used to ride mules when they went to play in other towns. Besides, all the team members get scholarships for participation in this kind of sport.

As to the bookstore, it has all of the necessary textbooks, but few of fiction or classics: Americans themselves admit that they read very little, especially young ones, so they compensate for it by watching TV or sitting at the computer. Generally they spend around 5-7 hours at the TV-set watching “soaps” (serials, or soap operas, which take the most part of broadcast time). Other favourite programmes are TV-shows (e.g., “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” where most of questions are connected with films, “stars” and songs). You know, some time ago I thought that the amount of commercials (advertisements) on Russian television was huge, but in comparison with the USA it is rather small.

I would like to speak separately about American food. Maybe it is my subjective opinion, but it seems that they add sugar to almost all dishes. Fast food is very popular; here you may have different hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, etc. In connection with this there are very many fast food “restaurants” everywhere, such as “McDonald’s”, “Taco Bell” (Mexican), “Burger King”, “Pizza Hut” and others. Probably this is the reason why so many people in the US have problems with weight and figure. But water here is really good, you need not be afraid of drinking it from under the tap. The first time I boiled it to death in order to feel safe, I was then told about it and realised its advantages. There are a lot of water fountains in almost every hall where you can have a mouthful of cool water. This is actual in such a hot climate. For those who love coffee I have some unpleasant news: the beans are ground rather coarsely, that’s why the taste is not so good. In any case, it is a question of habits: every cuisine is good in its own way.

During the long holidays the cafeteria does not work at all, only during short ones, like Labour Day, for example (September 4). In fact, at such periods everything is closed: the computer lab, the library, swimming pool… Most of the students leave even for the week-end for their native towns, their friends’ places, or somewhere else. The campus seems to be dead: it becomes so quiet and desolate… To tell you the truth, in working days it is not too noisy here either: SAU has neither a night club nor a bar: there is a “dry law” in Magnolia; in other towns one may buy anything he or she wants, but on campus alcoholic beverages are prohibited. To my mind, this is good: students have more time for studies, but about studies I will tell you next time.

By Oksana Danchevskaya