When you take a tour...

I feel like I've discovered a lot of new places on campus recently.  Hunting down professors and talking to different departments has led me to a number of places, especially on the North Oval, where I would not normally go.  So here is a short list of things that I've learned (and that I wish I'd been told a little bit "sooner")

1. If lost in the Fine Arts Center, remember that there is always another stairway or hall.  It might not be in the place you expect it to be, but just follow the weird stairways and halls until you come to a door.  Oh, and the basement goes in a gigantic loop.

2. Sarkeys does not make sense, but with a little bit of time and a trusty compass, you are sure to eventually get to those hidden elevators.  Some unique features of the building are its unreliable cell phone reception, secret hallways, and strategic location to gauge wind strength.  The cafe downstairs is quite nice.

3. The Old Science Hall is beautifully renovate

d inside. You might be so busy admiring the cleanliness of it all that you fail to notice the creepy mural of two gentlemen that is painted on the back of the door (someone's watching me!!!)

4. What is Ellison?  Ellison is the building across from the library that houses the administrative offices for the College of Arts and Sciences.  If you choose to explore, it is helpful to note that the elevator inside the front door is not the only way upstairs.  If you walk a little ways through the entry room, a nicely carpeted staircase will lead you to a study area on Floor 2.

5. The Visitors Center has maps, but not always advice...

6. Gaylord is a large building from the outside, but inside, the grand staircase and abundance of glass make travel fairly straightforward.  

7. Come see the Honors College!  Everyone thinks of it as so mysterious and different, "Cate 5?  Where's that?  What in the world is David L. Boren Hall?" but it really just has classrooms, offices, and a cozy library, with the dorm part on floors 2-4.  And it has a computer lab- stop in to study!  We may not have food for the stomach, but we do have food for thought.

8. Reynolds Performing Arts Center does not have normal elevators.  "2" is the Modern floor and "3" is the Ballet floor, but "3W" is a half floor for the music practice rooms.  If the button has an "E" next to the number it means that the door will open on the opposite (theater) side.

9. There are four theaters all in relatively the same area.

Rupel Jones: located off of Elm Street; larger of the two FAC theaters

Weitzenhoffer: also on Elm, but smaller and circular inside, I think

Holmberg Hall: located on Parrington Oval (the roundabout) with large wooden double doors and a burgundy interior

Lab Theater: there's one in the Old Science Hall and possibly one on the 2nd floor of the FAC...Probably best to ask for directions

10. The Towers have become a lot simpler than they seemed at first.  I constantly got them mixed up in my first week as a freshman.  Couch is by Couch restaurants and thus is the furthest.  Walker has Xcetera (you "walk" through it) and Adams has a "family" of towers with a post office in one.

11. Finally, there are only two ovals- North Oval and the South Oval- but there is a third sidewalk that looks deceptively like these two and runs perpendicular to the stadium.  Located near Asp, you will probably rarely walk here.