What better area to know a little about then the UA campus, where you will eat, sleep and study for the next few years? To help you get to know campus, the next place you’ll call home, here are six places that will be useful in the coming weeks.
SUMC lounges
The Student Union Memorial Center boasts a selection of student lounges, spread over the floors, which make great reading or napping spots. Equipped with soft pillows on soft sofas, these lounges are preferable by far to stretching out on a bench or curling up in the cacti. Watch out for snorers, though, as a phlegmy sleeper can ruin any nap, no matter how relaxed you are.
The lounges include the Alumni lounge, Honors lounge, Heritage lounge, Cactus lounge and many more. They are also nicely decorated, so they even may cure a bout of homesickness with the homely touches. If your dorm room ever gets too full of pizza boxes for you to even enter, these lounges offer safe and tidy havens.
SUMC food court
Inside the Student Union Memorial Center, there is no shortage of places to eat. For convenience and a quick bite, though, the collection of vendors in the food court, on the east end of the main floor of the Union, is worth a taste.
Restaurants include Panda Express, Burger King, Chick-Fil-A, Papa John’s, IQ Fresh and On Deck Deli. Perfect for those who have a sweet spot for fast food, the food court also provides healthier options in the form of IQ’s wraps and smoothies and On Deck Deli’s large, design-your-own sandwiches.
There is plenty of seating both inside and out, so though the food court is popular, you will seldom be hard pressed to find a seat. All these vendors take meal plan money as well as normal money.
Centennial Hall
The UA’s campus theater and concert hall, Centennial Hall features performers from all over the world. Located on East University Boulevard, at the west side of campus, Centennial Hall is a large, majestic building flanked by palm trees and the recently built Women’s Plaza.
The box office in front sells tickets for the season’s shows, which have included performances by the Peking Acrobats, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, African choirs, “”STOMP”” and “”Cookin’.””
Whether you are a fan of ballet, jazz, comical musicals or classical music, something should take your fancy.
Centennial Hall offers special prices for student tickets, allowing those on a budget to experience the vibrant sights and sounds that will pass through Tucson this season.
The UA Mall
No, there’s no shopping to be had here. Rather, the Mall is the name given to the large strip of grass running from Old Main in the center of campus all the way east to North Campbell Avenue.
The Mall is the No. 1 place for finding ways to get involved, especially during the first few weeks of the semester. On certain days, campus clubs will vie for space, looking for new members and offering opportunities to go camping with kids, rock climbing with new friends and even snowboarding.
Throughout the year, the Mall sees such events as free movie screenings, lunchtime concerts, greek fundraisers and charity events. It is a great place to bring a football or Frisbee and relax with friends.
The ILC
Short for Integrated Learning Center, the ILC is an underground concrete web of classrooms and lecture halls just north of the Main Library. Planted with greenery and providing plenty of shady benches plus vending machines, the ILC is a nice rest stop between classes – an oasis, if you’ll go so far. It is worth exploring before arriving at class; the rooms snake around and take a little getting used to.
Most important, though, are the large rooms of public computers, which are actually connected to the first floor of the library. During the semester, it is open ’round the clock for students, whether you have a last-minute paper to finish or simply need a midnight match of online backgammon.
– compiled by Astrid Duffy
